Sly Cooper 5: Thieves out of Everyone
by olirulz111
Summary: Lying in the desert sand is the greatest thief in the world. Sitting in the present is his gang, anxiously awaiting his return. On the run is one pink mouse which shall stir up trouble far beyond what they can imagine. Warning: contains violence, drug references and minor adult themes. All reviews are appreciated. Complete
1. Prologue - International Intentions

**Authors Preface**

This is my second fan fiction piece although this is the first one i have published. When i first found out about Sly Cooper, i was working on a crossover piece, originally he was just to make up the numbers. But as i realised how good the series was, he deserves his own sequel. And what better place to find out about him then in Paris! I only saw a walkthrough on youtube as i was on holiday. Halfway through the walkthrough i started a sequel, not knowing the tragic ending. It was going to be about Sly's son, but as i completed the walkthrough, i knew that idea would definitely not work as a sequel, maybe as a sixth game. I was so overcome by the ending i began planning it in a tiny bedroom at 11:30pm 26th June 2013 at night after i finished watching the ending. Crying is only one of several emotions i went through after watching it. Once i got home from Paris i instantly went searching for the game and have completed that as well, now as well as the other games.

It was a tumultuous experience making this fanfic, nevertheless i enjoyed it tremendously and if you can even match and minuscule fraction of that feeling when reading it, then it is a success.

Enjoy,

Olirulz111

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**Sly Cooper 5: Thieves out of Everyone.**

**Prologue**

**Melbourne, Australia, 10:43pm 26th December 1999.**

It was nighttime in the city of Melbourne Australia, the partygoers and clubbers were out in full swing. Nightclubs and bars were open and teeming with patrons who were either drunk or pretending not to be. It was the 26th December 1999 in Australia and me and my 15-year-old buddies; Bentley and Murray were on the final leg of our globetrotting journey, ever since we got out of school, we have been traveling the world. The proceeds that I had earned, or if you prefer stole, funded our activities. We were visiting Melbourne before going to Sydney to watch the millennium fireworks. We were relatively unknown in terms of a reputation but our exploits have become known to those who intend to rid the world of such people. The local gangs are easy to find for me. I just know the time and place for where to get the loot and have the ability to pull it off. Bentley was using some of the proceeds to build nifty gadgets to help us out, and Murray was looking at all of the cars in all the cities, how they drive, and the laneways. All of which would help out later when he gets to drive us around. But the only thing on our minds then is the huge line for this big club; the line goes around the block. We walked up to the entrance to have a look inside, we hear some electronic music thumping out of the entrance. Bouncers guard the entrance, checking ID's and scanning VIP cards. I knew that this would be the place where criminal activity goes down.

Bentley wasn't too keen on entering the club, it's way too noisy and he'd be pushed around too much. But if we wanted to get inside, it wouldn't be through the front door. It was going to be from the top. We walked along and looked at the faces of the people waiting in line. All excited for the night out. For us, it was only the beginning of what going to be a whirlwind tour of the city. We walked up to the adjacent building and Bentley got to work with his new lock-picking device. Sure enough, it unlocked which allowed Murray and Bentley easy access to the top. I took the route less travelled, more like never travelled. I climbed up a drainpipe that ran along the face of the building. The ledge that overhung the top of the building is easy enough to get past. By the time I got onto the top, a door opened on the top of the building, revealing Bentley and Murray. That was the fourth time in a row I've beaten them to the top. I must have been in great climbing shape. But competition aside, we could all see the skylight that allows us to peak into the clubs interior. We walked slowly through the light to see if anyone is inside. No one was there so I opened up the skylight but as I was about to climb in I heard footsteps so I rush back out and shut the light carefully as to not attract attention. We all crowded around the light to see who is inside. What we saw looks like a scene out of a mafia movie. Two gangsters with briefcases of money or worse, each negotiating a deal. I could only wish to hear what was going on inside. Luckily for me, Bentley, like he always does, had a gadget for the occasion. A listening that device that can amplify the sound of conversations by pointing a loudspeaker device at the person you want to hear. I turned it on and pointed it down at the table they were seated at. What we could see is an 8-person table with gangsters seated in chairs surrounding it. One of them holds briefcases, which could mean money, gold or worse. The only exit was out of the door they entered, which was behind the door of the second gangster who looks like he came alone. He was a wallaby who is about the same age as the other gangster and dons a pinstripe suit also.

"I've heard of this guy you keep on ranting about all day in your office. You say how he's so quick and agile and never touches the ground before he gets to the destination. Does this guy even have a name?" the first gangster asks. He is a wombat who looks like he's in his late 30's and is also wearing a pinstripe suit.

"Look, he's just much better than everyone else, delivers those packages in record times, I've never seen anyone navigate their way so fast." Replied the other gangster. I wondered if they were talking about me for a second.

"That's why I'm here, These cases are full of $100 bills, so you hand me over your guy, and I hand over the cases." The first gangster said.

"I don't know about it, he's been with us for a while now and don't want to let him go."

"Does that not convince you? How about I make you an over you can't refuse."

"Your not going to do that, I won't hand him over, your offer is tempting but I must leave now."

"Not so fast there." I saw the wombat draw a huge pistol at his head. This is the first time I've seen something as raw and real as this. It makes Bentley and Murray turn away. I continued to watch and listen.

"Come on, you ain't going to fire that anyway, do you know whats going to happen if you do? All this just for one guy?" The wallaby asked.

"He's worth it." The wombat says as he cocked his gun, showing that he meant business. I began to have hesitations myself but I knew that in my line of work, death was an inevitable fact I had to face.

"I don't wanna watch." Bentley says while shuddering and cowering away from the skylight.

"Okay, okay, just give me the money and I'll tell you where he is." The wallaby says as he tries to get out of there.

"I'm afraid you've refused my offer, so here's a new one, you tell me where he lives, or you die in this room." The wombat threatens while pointing his gun at him.

"I don't know where he lives, I swear."

"That's unfortunate." The wombat gets out of his chair and shoots him in the leg, a loud screaming rings out from his mouth. I turn to check on Bentley but he is already hugging Murray while crying. I turn back to see him rolling around on the floor with blood draining from his knee. The wombat advances up to his face.

"Where is he?" he shouted.

"I don't know."

The threats stop as they heard the footsteps coming up from the stairs that lead into the room. I wonder who could be worth so much that it drives one man to rid the Earth of another.

"Run!" The wallaby screams with what seems to be his dying breath. It must be the guy they are talking about.

"Get him." The wombat shouts to his cronies. They all rushed out of the room, including the boss himself. He left the briefcases behind. I spot the opportunity I needed. I unraveled a rope from my backpack and gave it to Murray, he took the rope, knowing already what to do, as we had already perfected this technique on numerous occasions. Murray held the rope while I got into the room. I saw the dead man in a pool of his own blood, but I knew that I needed to be quick. I grabbed the cases and threw them up to Murray and placed my signature calling card that any aspiring thief needs on the table. I was just about to get onto the rope again to climb back up when frantic footsteps echoed up the stairwell. I hid in an empty wardrobe to the right of the exit where I couldn't be seen. I saw, through the opening in between the doors, Murray pulling up the rope and shuting the skylight, just as the wombat returned to find his briefcases. He looked like he's angrier than before.

"Where are my cases?" he shouted into the room. He walked over to where he spots the card and picked it up. Then he walked back over to the dead body of the other gangster and shows the card to the face of a man that couldn't see.

"Is this what you take me for?" he shouted in his general direction. He put the card in one jacket pocket and took out his gun from another. He proceeded to shoot him many times into the chest constantly until he ran out of ammo. As he was doing this, memories of my dad being murdered came flooding back, the inside of the wardrobe was the same to me, but whereas my dad put up a fight, that wombat did this to a dead body. After unnecessarily shooting him, the rage wore off a little bit as if he had shot his rage into the gangster. He got up in a tired and weary way, too weary for someone of his age.

"I hope this guy is worth it, he's cost me way too much tonight." He said to himself as he steps over the body and out of the room. I made sure he was completely gone before I stepped out of the wardrobe. The empty shell casings littered the ground around the body. I spoke as loudly to Murray as I could allow myself.

"Murray, get me out" I said to the skylight, Murray comes and drops down the rope and lifts me out, ending what was by far the most brutal murder I had ever seen.

"That was way too close." I said, relived that now I was out of that room.

"Is it over?" Bentley said from inside his shell.

"It's done." Murray replied, Bentley got out of his shell and opened up the cases.

"What's in the cases" I asked Bentley. Only one word exited Bentley's mouth.

"Enough." Enough what? Money? Gold? Poison to kill us?

"For what?" I asked again.

"Everything." Bentley replied in a way that alludes to the fact he set that previous word up. I took a look at the inside of the cases and what I saw was the best thing I could have hoped for. Stacks of neatly pressed $100 bills lined every square inch of the cases. It was our biggest payday, bigger than of all our previous heists combined, at least $2 million in cash.

"I've never seen so much money in real life before." I said in awe of what beheld my eyes. Bentley however was already planning on how to use the money, like he always did. He was always good at managing the proceeds of our thefts.

"We can do so much with this. I've already got an idea. We can use half to buy a place. Then we split the rest." Bentley explained to us.

"Finally I can get that van I've been looking at." Murray exclaimed, too eager to get on the road it seemed.

"And I can get some new parts for this new gadget I'm building. It's a computer but in a pair of binoculars. You'll love it once it's done." Bentley says, he doesn't usually reveal his projects to us but I knew it would be of great use to use someday once it's done. I try to join in on the takings.

"I'm going to… I don't know." My words failed me, I didn't have any plans of what to spend it on, I already had the things I needed, my cane, my outfit, my cunning and ability and most importantly, the two guys that are standing around the cases at that point in time.

"You never spend any money." Bentley casually rebuffed.

"I know, I'm just saving it for the right time." I said, usually I come up with something to stop them from pursuing me further, but it seemed like they know what it is now.

"Someone wants a girl." Bentley taunted. He's smart enough to know what's going on.

"You know that cop that chased after me when we were in India?" I began to explain to them.

"Seriously? She's an INTERPOL agent. You must know that you two don't mix." Bentley warned me.

"Yeah but…" as I said that Bentley pulled up her file on the laptop he brought.

"Look at her file, she's been with the police her whole life."

"Car-mel-it-a Fox? That's a weird name." I sounded out each syllable, I had never heard of such a name before, but it just suited her perfectly.

"She's bad news Sly. You need to stay away." Bentley warned again.

"I know." I assert to Bentley, but inside I knew that I was going to have a 'working' relationship with her. Maybe it will turn into something more.

On that night on that rooftop, many things happened at once that changed our lives. The theft itself won't go down in Cooper folklore as the best one I've done. But it did have a hefty payday, one which kickstarted many of the things we would take for granted, like the Paris hideout, Murray's van, the Binocucom and Bentley's other gadgets. We unsure of what to do next, but we don't steal from people just for the money. If money were all I needed, I wouldn't be a master thief. Money makes people do some crazy things. But no amount of money would save me from where I am now.


	2. Chapter 1 - Sweet and Sour Dreams

**Chapter 1 - Sweet and Sour Dreams**

The name's Sly Cooper, and I'm not just a thief, a master thief, because I only steal from other criminals. I'm from a long line of master thieves, and recently I got to meet some of them in a time machine built by Bentley, the brains of my gang, and he put it in my other friend Murray's Van, the brawn of the gang. We travelled in time together and fixed the Thievius Raccoonus from being erased from history by Le Paradox. He wanted to destroy my ancestors by stealing their prized canes from history to prove he was a better thief. But that didn't work out for him. As he glided away from me he hit an oncoming passenger jet, which tore off the parachute and sent him flying into the river Seine. I don't know whether he's dead or has been caught but I know he lost. Then, everything just went bright. I couldn't see anything. I saw the time portal open up because of the time machine that was in the blimp. Once I exited the tunnel, I was in Egypt. But the blimp was still going to crash. I had no parachute as that stinky skunk Le Paradox took it after I offered my hand. I looked around for anything that could save me. Pieces of the blimp's fabric were tearing off so I tore some off then jumped off whist holding it and the cane in my mouth. The last thing I remembered up to that point was falling to the ground and hitting it hard.

**Cairo, Egypt, 1298 B.C.**

I woke up later near sunset and realised where exactly I was in Cairo near the pyramids. A pulsating feeling coming from my right foot, I try to move it but that only makes the pain reach excruciating levels. I try to get up and put weight on it and that doesn't go well either. Honestly, my ankle was already hurting from the mech machine crushing it in medieval England, but I didn't feel that bad so I kept going, I would have got Bentley to check it out after that mission, but I didn't get the opportunity and now I paid the price. I couldn't put any weight on it at all, I refused to let my cane become a walking stick so I hopped through the sand until I came across the town itself, everyone came and stared at me, like I was some freak. People shunned me away as the dusk was beginning to turn into night, then out of nowhere, I was taken off the street and into someone's house. But before I could meet the guy he had got some sort of sleeping drink into me and before I could do anything, I was out. So here I am inside my own head. Talking to myself. Just me.

Now i'm walking along a street, in a nice tuxedo. Like the one I wore with Carmelita to our dinner parties and exhibitions when we were together. In my right hand is my cane, in the left hand is a bouquet of roses. I must be going to meet her now. I arrive at this hotel, the 5 star "Ritz". This place is so expensive even I have trouble picking up the bill here. I walk through the lobby and into the elevator. It's just another normal night, people are doing what ever they do when they go to an expensive hotel; ordering food from the restaurant, slouching at the bar after having too many, People checking out to a late flight. None knowing who I really was, which is how I like it. Just slipping through the corridor with such anonymity is empowering, it's much easier if you can just walk inside to the target because no one knows who you really are. I press the up button on the elevator; the closest one is on level 24. A long wait ensues for me, waiting is just like throwing away time. The only thing that keeps me sane is the knowledge that soon I will be with Carmelita. The ping snaps me out of my mini trance and I get into the ornately decorated elevator, only me inside this car. Being the thief I am, I notice the overhead exit in the elevator, I know that it leads to the exterior and the cables that I can navigate to get wherever I need to go in case of emergency. But tonight, I don't suspect I'll need to open it. The ping arrives, and I'm at the 36th floor, the penthouse suite. How much will this cost me? It doesn't matter, she's worth every penny. I open the door and there she is, as beautiful as ever, ace Interpol agent Carmelita Fox, wearing what I must say is very beautiful dress. She turns her head at the sound of the door creaking against the hinges. She gets up and walks slowly to me, her eyes, as piercing as ever, never leave mine. I'm feeling slightly nervous as she walks to me, I give the flowers but she throws them on the ground in a casual manner, I thought she'd like them. But now, her lips meet mine and mine meet hers. I feel the nervousness being replaced with relaxation.

The next thing I see is me in bed, lying awake, watching the ceiling with Carmelita fast asleep. There's that itch again, that itch nothing but the thrill of the completion of a well planned and executed heist could scratch. I get up out of the bed, I tip toe around her side to the wardrobe to fetch my clothes, I've done this too many times, whether it was sneaking into the principals office at school or into some crime bosses headquarters, I have mastered the art of sneaking by foot. I open the wardrobe as quietly as possible to find that my tux isn't there, it is replaced by a set of clothing I've not used but know what it is. Usually when I go thieving, I wear the same clothes I've worn since childhood, a blue tight shirt with sleeves that just go past the elbows and length that goes below the waist and flares at the bottom to make room for my tail. Blue gloves with a yellow band around the wrist, blue boots that go up the lower leg, a belt whose clasp has the family logo. My blue flat cap and most of all, my cane, my father's cane, one of only two things I have of his. The cane was the only part of either the tux or thieving outfit that remained. What replaced it was something that is more, stealthy. A tight, black, long sleeved shirt with karki long pants with a tan belt to hold it up, neatly pinned to the coat hanger this all rests on is a pair of black gloves. A pair of short black boots lies on the bottom of the wardrobe.

I guess I don't have a choice as to what I wear so I put this all on. It doesn't look like a half bad combination. Then I realise what it is, it's my 'other' thieving outfit. But no matter, I take the backpack containing my parachute and go to the balcony. I look down to the city below. I jump off the building and open the parachute; I glide down to the 3rd floor balcony of another building. Once I land, it's like I've been transported into another place. The street that I saw from that balcony isn't the same quiet late night street I was expecting. In fact, the hotel has disappeared. I look back and the road and the scene below have changed. The streets are now packed with people out for a good time. I now feel a piece of paper in my hand, I take a look at it, all it has is the picture of the building in front of me and the picture of what's inside, a diamond ring that is one of the biggest in the world. I need no invitation to start. I jump across to a overhanging tree branch and get on top of that, I pass through the trees branches to get to the other side of the road. What I see below is a long line with bouncers guarding the entrance. I know this place, it's that club was thinking about earlier. I look down the street, expecting to see the gang walking up the street like I remember, but that doesn't happen. Then something catches my eye, one person flashes his card and walks straight in. They must have a VIP ticket. I need one of those to get inside, luckily for me, I spot someone only to eager to flash his card to the waiting patrons in the line, flaunting his supposed greatness at them just because he could pass by the line. He puts it back in his pocket, now it's my turn. I go to the lower reaches of the tree and get down from the tree and land behind him. One swipe of the cane and his card is no longer on him. I quickly move to get inside, the bouncer checks the pass and I get let in.

The sound of the music in here is deafening. Constant bass is pumping through the air, or is it the alcohol? Anyway, I look inside, people are partying on the dance floor and in a booth to the right, I see the unmistakable shimmer that signifies diamonds, the arm the ring is attached to is hanging outside, I can't see who it is though. I sneak around the dance floor and get closer. The target is alone and once I get close enough I realise why, the foul smell around him is excruciating. I hold my breath and get I side view of him. No, it can't be. But he's, Le Paradox? The music and the smell all drain away and are replaced by rage and anger, I wasn't going to make the same mistake, and he needed to be ended, here. I walk up to him and get ready to strike.

Meanwhile languishing in his secret underground lab is Bentley, still searching for any signs of Sly, nothing ever turns up though, he is used to it now. The constant rejection that manifests itself in a question mark is an everyday occurrence for him. But Bentley keeps trying, never allowing himself to believe that Sly is lost forever in whatever interpretation that associates itself with the meaning of lost. But a whirring of a motor gets his attention; it's the rotating arm of a laser printer that sits near his computer. It prints out one rectangular piece of cardboard 4 inches by 6. It's the 3rd time this week that this has happened. It's the pink mouse Penelope that has corresponded through these mysterious postcards. Bentley knows who they are from, but the first two don't make any sense. The first one shows her escape from jail, something that law enforcement agencies have no clue how it was done. The second is the inside of a lab, but not just any lab, it's the lab where Bentley gets his materials from; A top secret lab built into the mountains of Switzerland. This new card finishes printing and Bentley adds it to the others. It depicts an alley in Paris, what looks like some random graffiti tag to some is the key that unlocks Bentley's mind. Finally the puzzle makes sense. Without hesitation, he grabs his gear, reloads his bombs, gets the dart gun and jets off to reunite the gang in hope that they can find the raccoon that they so dearly miss.


	3. Chapter 2 - Rounding up the Gang

**Chapter 2 – Rounding up the Gang**

**Monaco, Monaco. 2:42pm 22****th**** July 2013**

The first place on Bentley's trip is Monaco, the venue for the world wrestling championships. It is the semi finals and Bentley was entering into watching what is one of the most uneven fights of all time. Murray is getting slaughtered on all sides, being slammed and punched all across the ring. The huge baulk of 'The Bonkers Baboon' is too much for Murray. Bentley wheels his wheelchair over to the ring as Murray is getting pinned after another round of brutality. The referee slaps the ground; Murray turns his head to the outside of the ring in desperation only to see Bentley watching on. This spurs Murray on; his best friend has come to support him at just the right time. The second slap snaps him out of his trance and he summons a herculean effort. He gets off the ground and performs a push up that shakes the baboons red posterior off his head. The crowd is quiet after seeing it happen, everyone had all but written off 'The Murray' for this fight. Murray jumps up and performs a smack down on his opponent, knocking what air was in his lungs. Murray gets down on the face of the baboon and the referee slaps thrice. He has won. The crowd is silent at what they have witnessed. But this turns into loud and screaming cheers. Murray salutes the crowd by posing with his signature bicep flex. Bentley is overjoyed for Murray, feeling that by him being there has changed the outcome. Murray gets out of the ring and is mobbed by reporters and cameramen. Bentley follows close behind. Murray enters his dressing room and Bentley knocks on the door. Murray opens it knowing who it is.

"Buddy, I'm so glad to see you." Murray says overjoyed that Bentley was there.

"Me too Murray." Bentley politely replies.

"Do you have news on Sly?" Murray asks, he knows that Bentley hasn't seen him since those events on that fateful night. It is his first chance to ask this question.

"I'm getting close, I need your help though." Bentley offers a small glimmer of hope.

"Say no more, The Murray Is ready." Murray states as he gets up ready to leave.

"Okay, we have to get the others first; I want everyone to be ready in case we find out Sly's location." Bentley explains as they walk towards the back exit.

"What are we waiting for? Let's go." Murray says, too eager to keep going. But as they open the door, reporters mob the exit shouting questions at him about his amazing win. Murray slowly shields a path towards his van that is parked nearby. The reporters keep trying to push Bentley out of the way in order to get closer to the finalist. Murray stops and makes sure that the journalists do not bully Bentley. They get to the van where they get inside, the reporters are forced to make way as Murray toots the horn and revs the engine. They exit the Riviera and head out to the next destination. The van itself has had most of the gadgets removed from it, the time machine and the hovering pack have been removed and are collecting dust in Bentley's lab. Murray doesn't mind it being back to normal, it allows him to get a sense a raw sense of driving. His van is now his signature pink colour which is part of his rebranding strategy. Murray doesn't mind the van being back to normal, it allows him to get a raw driving experience. After 4 hours of fast lane driving, they arrive at their next destination Lyon.

**Lyon, France, 6:34pm 23 July 2013 **

Lyon, the home of Interpol headquarters is the next destination and one Carmelita Montoya Fox is working at her desk, not all of an agents work is done in the field. It's her most hated part of this job, filing reports for the multitude of bosses that sit above her. No matter how many criminals she arrests, the bosses above still control her moves. She is ready to make the long commute back to Paris in time for another round of late night searching. She had taken Sly's departure very hard even if she didn't show it. She dare not show anything to her bosses, they might suspect that she is colluding with him. It would explain why she hasn't been able to catch him yet. Carmelita turns around to get out of her office but already at the door is Geoffrey, one of the handlers for the agents. He works almost exclusively with Carmelita, whereas most handlers can juggle 3 agents, Carmelita goes through so much crime she has one to herself. She is about to walk past him when her phone vibrates in her pocket; she stops to take it out. Blocked number, usually it would be another bureaucrat explaining that you can't just go shooting criminals without a warrant or permit, but this time it's different.

"Hello."

"Carmelita." Bentley's voice sends a shiver down her spine, not much scares this vixen but this time is one of them, she has been waiting for this call for 3 weeks now. She goes back into her office and shuts the door on Geoffrey.

"Go on, say it." She says, expecting the worst.

"No, no, no. It's not that" Bentley says in a reassuring tone.

"Then what is it?" Carmelita asks with haste.

"It's about Sly." Bentley replies.

"Do you know where he is?" Carmelita asks with a renewed sense of hope.

"I'm getting close but I need your help." Bentley explains to her.

"I'm on my way." She replies. Putting the phone back in her pocket and retrieving her items as quickly as possible; her jacket, her badge and most importantly her shock pistol. The door opens again and to Geoffrey's surprise she is ready to leave.

"Where are you going?" He asks as she walks past him, Geoffrey tags along.

"I've got a new lead on a very important case." She replies, concealing it's true nature.

"Is it about the prison breakout?" he asks in hope more than anything else.

"No, there was no evidence or video at all, no clues, we wait until more turns up. But for now I must go" She replies. Carmelita ditches Geoffrey as she picks up her speed to get out of the building to the van that is parked outside. As she turns the corner to use the lifts, the director turns up; he is the last person she wants to see.

"Carmelita, do you have a moment?" he asks in a polite but slightly condescending way. He likes to throw his weight around so to speak.

"No I must go." She says as she walks straight past him.

"It's about your late night stakeouts, we're getting worried." He says. She is shocked that he even knows about it, every time she can be there, she is on that same stretch of river in Paris, searching for anything.

"About what?" She asks, confused why they are worried about her.

"You spend so much time in these stakeouts yet it takes you no time at all to arrest criminals." He replies. She knows he is hiding something, she sees through anyone in this building.

"I have no idea what you are talking about." She says.

"You need to be re-evaluated." He says.

"You want to re-evaluate your best agent?" She replies, confused at why he wants this to be done.

"For security reasons" he lets slip out of his mouth. She knows that 'Security reasons' is just a buzzword that means you must do this.

"If you will excuse me, I have a case to solve." Carmelita says as she presses the button to call the elevator. The director is shocked by her audacity, he has received reports about her behaviour but this is truly something. But he doesn't shout back, instead he waits for Carmelita to go into the elevator then gets onto his phone and makes a call. Meanwhile, Carmelita is busy thinking about Sly, the good times, the bad times; she can't stop thinking about him. She does stop thinking when guards meet her at the elevator doors.

"Inspector Fox" One of the guards announces, "I ask you to stop immediately and come with us." But to their dismay she just walks straight past them and out of the door, completely ignoring them. She walks up to the van and gets inside. The guards have no answer for this; they know that this particular agent has one temper you don't want to be on the wrong side of. Murray drives with great speed, eager to get out of the place that they want to avoid at all costs in the future.

"This better be worth it Bentley." Carmelita says, angry with what she had to go through with the director. In Bentley's lap are the three postcards that have troubled him so much. Carmelita sees Bentley looking at them, expecting almost that he doesn't believe what he is seeing.

"These postcards are why you are here now" Bentley tries to say in a confident way but the scariness of the situation breaks through his voice. "This one shows her breakout, this one is a lab where I get my parts from and this place, is the Paris museum of history." Bentley gives the to Carmelita to look at, her detective eye might be able to find something his technology may not find.

"That's from her breakout?" She asks, "It's what everyone at Interpol is trying to figure out. But these places, I've never heard of any thefts from these places."

"That's the really bad news." Bentley replies as if he has been chained to one bite of knowledge that holds him back.

"Then whats the bad news?" Murray chimes while doing 200km/h down the fast lane.

"The only conclusion I can bring from these photos is that she is building another time machine. Do you know of any other labs that supply parts for a gravity encabulator?" Bentley explains.

"If she stole your plans then the museum must hold the key to where she's going." Carmelita says as she figures it out.

"Precisely." Bentley concurs.

"Is that where we are going now?" asks Carmelita, knowing that they must be watching her in Paris.

"Yep, we find out what she took and then get the time machine from my lab." Bentley explains.

"You think Sly is stuck in a different time and that Penelope knows where she is?" Carmelita questions.

"She built Le Paradox the time machine, she must know where it's programmed to go first. That's the really, really, really bad news." Bentley worries, an anxious look riddles his face as if the van is not going fast enough.

"So was is this really, really, really bad news?" Carmelita asks. Bentley almost has trouble saying this but he builds in confidence.

"I fear she's going to try to blackmail me or worse by using Sly to get me working in some military base making weapons, earning her billions" Bentley explains.

"And the really, really bad news" Carmelita follows up.

"That." Bentley pauses, holding his tongue like he doesn't want to say it. There's some he wants to hide but it will be no good to anyone if he hides it form her any longer.

"That she might have read the…" Bentley hesitates again, unable to even say those next two words.

"Read what?" Carmelita asks. Bentley is silent as if pretending that the conversation never took place.

"You're gonna be like that, fine, I believe I'm owed a favour from you, so tell me what did she read?" Carmelita asks again. Bentley doesn't show it, but he is slightly annoyed that she remembers it. He really doesn't want to tell this to her, but she's now one of the gang.

"She read… The Thievius Raccoonus" Bentley ekes out from himself, he now wants to crawl back into his shell after revealing one of the biggest secrets that Sly has to the woman that wants to track him down. She doesn't even know what it is exactly, but the Raccoonus part alludes to her that it must have something to do with Sly.

"What makes it so… bad… for us?" Carmelita asks, confused at what Bentley is trying to convey. Bentley is more comfortable explaining what it is, but still is hesitant.

"It's a book that has been in the Cooper family for thousands of years, it details their heists, the techniques and lives that they lived." In Carmelita's head, her law enforcement brain gets working almost reflexively, all of Sly's heists in one book. She quickly quashes these thoughts, knowing that would be the worst thing to do right now, to betray everyone, to betray Sly. Bentley gets on his phone after saying this like he needs an escape. He's calling the last remaining member of the gang.

Walking down the streets of Amsterdam is one disco crazed iguana that is getting ready for a long night. He's got the clothes, or 'threads' as he'd say, to get through the night. He is literally a party animal. His phone rings out of his jacket pocket and in one motion he gets it our and receives the call, like he's rehearsed the move many times.

"Dimitri" Bentley answers.

"Yo Bentley, I did not expect you calling." Dimitri replies in his way, he learned English by watching music videos.

"Where are you?" Bentley asks.

"I came to the city of Amsterdam baby! I've been grooving and scubing amongst the dykes!" He exclaims, this is certainly a change from the tropical islands that he visited in his first episodes of his hit TV show "Disco Diver".

"Just stay there, I'll come get you next morning." Bentley instructs.

"That's down with the D" Dimitri shouts into the phone, he turns it off and slips it into his jacket, he then turns to the camera crew following him.

"Edit that out." He says in a break of character. He then resumes being the over exuberant, nighttime, disco lover that he naturally is. He enters the club with the camera crew in toe for a night of disco.


	4. Chapter 3 - Road to Recovery

**Cairo, Egypt, 1298 B.C. **

Right now the racoon that they are looking for is in a basement, lying on a makeshift bed made of straw and grass. Only a tiny hole through the top that goes to the ground is his only way of telling the time and getting any fresh air. In this mud-brick hut he thinks he is a prisoner with no escape. Sly sits up slightly and looks at his feet, one of them completely normal, the other covered in wet papyrus to stop it from moving. Sly hears footsteps coming from the room above, they descend down the stairs slowly. Even through whoever is keeping him her is trying to be quiet, he can still hear them. Years of experience has sharpened his hearing to detect the faintest of signals, from impending guards to far away sirens. But as this noise stops, Sly gets lies back down and faces the wall, wanting to go back to sleep.

"Ah good, you're awake." A voice says, pleased. Sly turns his head and sees nothing.

"Where am i?" He asks the mysterious voice, he has an air of familiarity with it.

"You are in the greatest city in the world, Cairo." The voice starts again "More specifically, the house that my father constructed."

"Who are you? Where are you?" Sly asks in the room, he hears something but sees nothing.

"Why I'm right here. Standing in front of your face, taking to you." The voice answers. Somehow out of the shadow a figure emerges, wearing a white robe and headdress, it's another raccoon. Sly doesn't recognise who it is though.

"But why take me?" Sly asks.

"I heard the commotion in the streets and looked to see what it is, I saw you hopping through the streets and I took pity on you. I took you away from the crowds and hid you in here. In my spare time I like to practice medicine, I am obsessed with how the body works, because this helps me with my other activities." The voice explains.

"What other…" Sly Begins, he is cut of by the voice.

"I'm sorry, it was just a slip of the tongue I'm afraid. What you need to do is to rest, your ankle is broken, usually it takes months to heal, but with me, it takes weeks." The voice tells Sly. Sly thinks this over, trying to make sense of it all. After about 10 seconds he realises who it is.

"You're Slytunkahmen! Founder of the Thievius Raccoonus!" Sly exclaims with glee, like he's just been given all the keys to the world's safes.

"No, Slytunkahmen was my father." He rebuts instantly. "I am the second." He goes over to a corner of the room unseen by Sly as it is hidden in darkness and opens what Sly thinks from the clacking sound is a chest.

"Your thefts we're legendary, your techniques, far ahead of you're time." Sly exclaims again with the same happiness like Murray in a chocolate pizza burrito-eating contest.

"How do you know all this?" Slytunkahmen II Asks, confused how his patient knows his secrets.

"I'm your descendant from the future." Sly explains happily.

"I wondered about you when I saw you," He says while grabbing out two objects from the chest. "I saw your cane, the top of it looks exactly like mine." The objects he takes out are his twin canes, the handles shortened to slightly longer than a handgrip.

"I need to see you in the field." Sly starts.

"No, you have to stay here and rest, movement will only make the process more painful and longer." Slytunkahmen II Explains.

"But."

"No, buts, you need to rest, once it's healed you can come, uh, what is your name?" Slytunkahmen II asks his patient.

"Sly Cooper." Sly says confidently.

"Is that short for Slytunkahmen?" He asks.

"No." Sly replies casually.

The tan coloured raccoon disappears into the shadows and on the ground, the thud of Sly's cane hitting the ground in front of his bed. Sly has no choice but to follow his orders, he is Slytunkahmen II after all. Sly never knew he was a doctor through, but he would need one if he was to get back into the field as soon as possible and get back into the present. That's one thing he still regrets slightly, not being able to escape that blimp in time, he rethinks over the events of that night over and over. But one memory trumps them all. The moment where he saved Le Paradox from certain death, haunts him like the shadow of Clockwerk that hung over his more recent ancestors. Constantly present, it makes him mad. Sly knows he must get past that moment because it is exactly that, the past. But the anger slowly bubbles underneath like a cauldron full of water above a fire.

The days and nights of being underground have taken a toll on this most infamous raccoon. The only time he got to go outside is when he would need to get some sunlight, even though his captor/doctor didn't understand the concept of vitamin D, and that was only for about half an hour a day. But Sly has no way to know exactly what time it is, apart from the position of the little patch of light that sneaks into the basement through the holes in the roof. Sly doesn't neglect his fitness though; he starts with simple exercises, push-ups and sit-ups, other more extravagant things like handstands and twirling his cane around while looking at the ceiling. It keeps him busy; being stuck underground for 98% of the day does make anyone bored. His routine manages to keep himself fit and ready for when the day comes, that day when he is released back into the wild, the urban landscape that he dominates so commandingly.

That day comes 3 weeks later, Sly has been fed all sorts of herbal drinks and remedies, whether they worked or not were a mystery to him. In this particular morning, Sly is fixated on the chest in the corner, being underground for so long has given him improved night vision. What does it contain? He asks himself constantly, he doesn't dare touch it, the effects of taking some treasure now could impact the present in untold ways. Slytunkahmen II comes down the stairs that lead into the basement, Sly expects this to be another foul tasting drink of some sort, but this time he carries nothing.

"It is time." Slytunkahmen II utters, This sends off sparks in Sly's head, signifying the end of his subterranean confinement.

"You should be able to walk on it straight away." He says. Sly is unsure about this, usually you work your way back from an injury, but just going straight on it? That's preposterous! However, Sly edges out of his bed and slowly adds weight to his right foot, no pain. He adds more and more until he is standing, still no pain. Sly is about as surprised he could possibly be.

"That's… amazing!" Sly remarks.

"There is no doubt about my medicine in this city." Slytunkahmen II affirms.

"Now can I see you in the field?" Sly asks him.

"About that, I need you to help me with something; if you are truly my ancestor then you should do it no problem." Slytunkahmen II says.

"Anything" Sly gratefully says, it is such an honour to even be with someone so revered in Cooper lore.

"There is this one new warlord that keeps stealing everything before I even have the chance to get to it. This wasn't a problem before but now I can't steal anything without this one warlord being there first. It causing me such pain."

"Not as much as I thought I would be experiencing now." Sly jokes.

Slytunkahmen gives a sarcastic "ha ha" at his joke, he is clearly a very serious thief or he is just not in the mood, Sly knows what it is like to have a rough patch where nothing goes your way, especially back in his schoolyard days when he was more naïve. He planned ambitious thefts with his friends but something would go wrong or something would happen that they didn't plan for. Sly gets serious as well.

"Don't worry, I'm sure it will be no problem for me." Sly replies.

"Ok then, the pharaoh here is very greedy, he goes to stores and demands they give him some of their jewellery or he would close it down. His gold deposit is hidden in his palace, but I've traced it to a room underneath his throne. If you can get that gold for me it will help me greatly, and if that warlord comes for the gold, bring him to me."

"I've got it." Sly answers.

Sly is itching to go, he turns to head for the biggest building besides the pyramids, the pharaohs palace. The feeling of running and jumping over things, movement in itself makes Sly happy. Happy that he is free again, that he is back doing what he does best. Stealing from the toughest of criminals. In this city, no one would be tougher to steal from than the pharaoh himself. Sly doesn't have any trouble in reaching the palace, the low flat rooftops are an easy route across the city. The palaces opulence is almost taunting the townsfolk below, saying "look how rich and powerful I am" towards the people that worship him. Maybe he will be slightly less wealthy when Sly is done. Sly enters through a small opening near the base of the palace, it leads directly into the network of tunnels that house the pharaohs items that the crowd is not allowed to see. Weirdly, no guards patrol the perimeter. He waits for one to show up but none come, he drops down in to the corridor, the air is quiet like no one is even there. That's because there isn't anyone there.

The next turn reveals why, an arm hangs out of the next room but it isn't moving, the rooms entrance is blocked by a sheet of cloth which block what Sly assumes to be the other guards. Slytunkahmen wasn't kidding when he meant that this warlord was first, but the devastation created in his wake is another. The footprints in the sand floor show the path taken, and the path that Sly takes. It leads to an empty room with a single gold coin situated on the ground with a tiny card on top, a calling card. Sly bends over to pick it up, it isn't anyone he knows, it shows a weird symbol all the same colour as the sandstone walls that surround him. Sly then thinks he's seen it before briefly, but nothing definite manifests itself in his head. He exits the palace and returns to the hut with nothing more than a card and coin to show for it.

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**Thanks for the support in the reviews!**


	5. Chapter 4 - The C Shaped Key

**Paris, France. 10:21pm 23 July 2013.**

The gang arrive in Paris with only one goal, finding the time where Sly is. All of this is based on a single piece of card with one picture on it. But it's more than they could ever hope for. As they drive into Paris and along the river, Carmelita remembers all those nights spent here, looking for any trace. Any piece of debris could hold clues, but nothing can replace the hole that is left in her heart. They are going to steal something, an object that could lead them to the end of all their angst, all their worrying, and all the heartbreak. They drive into the same alley that the graffiti tag is, it's outline still visible around all the other graffiti that covers it. Bentley breaks out his laptop to show them his plan.

"Ok, we know that she must have stolen something from here, but since no thefts have been reported, there must be a fake somewhere in this building. Our job is to find out what that is. To do this, I fitted a device into the binocucom that detects the age of anything it analyses. By detecting the percentage of Carbon-14 atoms in the structure, it will give us an accurate readout of the date it was made. Once you find something that doesn't match, flag it. It will save the location of the object so we can go back to it or for all of you to find it. I've looked at the plans and I've split up each part of the museum for each of us to check. Carmelita, you will take the upper floors, your entrance is via the roof the adjacent building. Murray, you take the lower floors, and we can enter via a service elevator, which should take you straight inside. I will take the rest. We do this as quickly as possible and get out. Let's go."

The gang splits up to perform their roles. Carmelita turns to the adjacent building and ascends via the emergency staircase on the outside of the building. 'This is something which Sly would have loved' she thinks to herself as she makes it to the top, with only a small gap separating her from the entrance to the museum. She makes it no problem and heads for the skylight that gives her passage inside.

"Usually Sly would do this but we have no other options." Bentley chimes in on the radio. Just the very mention of his name makes Carmelita slightly more emotional but there is no time for that now, she has to channel Sly into herself to perform a duty which no one though the best agent at Interpol thought possible. She leaps into the top floor of the museum; there must be a thousand exhibits on this level alone. She takes out a binocucom and turns it on. She points it at a cabinet of ancient Indian arrowheads, it dates them all in one second and all of them are accurate, maybe it will take less time that she would have thought. Carmelita walks past cabinet after shelf after table full of little items mainly from the early American period but nothing is out of place. After 10 minutes the entire top floor is checked and she moves methodically down to the next floor. There are no lasers or traps set up to protect the museum, they are free to walk around all they like.

Murray and Bentley do the same, they make their way in via the service elevator, Bentley didn't mean to think of it as a weight issue, but it worked out the best for the gang. The frantically check the items with nothing being out of place, the placards all roughly match the readout on the carbon dating device. Bentley is the one to come across the fraudulent artefact, in the Egyptian history section on the third floor. It appears to be a golden scimitar of some sort, only more curved to look like a sickle, that's what most people would think it is. Bentley knows what this is; it's a Cooper relic, the cane head from one of Sly's Egyptian ancestors. There are two in the cabinet that contains them, one is dated back to 1298 B.C and the other was made just last week.

"Come over here, I found it." Bentley announces over the radio. The rest of the gang comes over to look at the artefact.

"It looks like…" Carmelita starts.

"A cane." Bentley finishes.

"Sly is in Egypt?" Murray asks.

"I think so, we must hurry if we are to beat that mouse to Sly." Bentley replies.

The taking, the part that Sly would relish being the thief he is, is up to Bentley now. Despite they're being no security to stop movement, there is one particular trap to stop people from stealing, a laser embedded in the leg of the cabinet pointing towards the glass case. If the case were moved, the laser would detect the change in distance and set off alarms. Bentley has the perfect tool to combat this, is called a bed sheet, more specifically a small piece of one folded over each other. For all the technology that Bentley has invented, there is a place for the ingenious and the odd. The bed sheet will absorb the laser beam, meaning that the laser never returns to the sensor, which makes the alarms stay quiet. Using his robotic arms, he places them on the case, Bentley slides in the fabric as soon as there is room to fit it in. To everyone else's surprise the alarms don't go off as the arms lift the case off for Carmelita to reach in and take the key to the past, and her love interest.

Once the case is lowered and the sheet removed. They remove themselves from the scene, careful not to leave any evidence. This would be especially damaging for Carmelita if the police were to find out. They make their way to the service elevator and reach the ground floor, ready to head off to Amsterdam to get Dimitri then onto Bentley's lab. But that plan is cut short before they are even in the van. Agents surround the van from all sides. Police cars park themselves in front of the van to prevent its escape.

"Some of your friends have shown up." Bentley says.

"Don't start." Threatens Carmelita.

"I'll handle this." Bentley says. The paraplegic turtle wheels himself towards the law enforcement while Murray and Carmelita hide behind the corner. The agents are all checking the van for something, for anything. They saw the van drive away from the scene, but no sign of the occupants inside.

"Hello officers." Bentley greets the frantically searching officers and agents. But this surprises them; they all draw their guns. Bentley doesn't react; all agents are jumpy types. One of them recognises who he is, from his badge, he looks like the leader of this operation. He has never met Bentley before, but knows of him.

When Sly disappeared, Bentley needed some escape, a way to deal with the anxiety of the situation. Finding Sly became an obsession, with nothing being found. But after about week after the incident, he was contacted by mysterious sources, claiming that they want his technology, Bentley had this on a trace and found this was Interpol themselves, begging and pleading for his technology and genius. Did Bentley want to increase the capability of the law enforcement to trap his greatest friend? It wasn't the money or the prestige that convinced him to do it. But it was the fact he needed to deal with his anxiety, not get rid of it. His anxiety is what has kept him searching; the fact that he would not accept that Sly was dead; that he was missing forever was fuelling it. Some may call it unhealthy. To him it was necessary. Bentley was careful about what he did. He never once mentioned anything about Carmelita, or that he works with Sly. What he doesn't know is how they found him in the first place. But the technology he gave was, in Bentley's opinion, not very impressive. To Interpol, it was a revelation. He had only begun work on the first prototype when he received those postcards. But they knew already what brilliance he had.

"Ah, Bentley good to see you." The lead agent says. "What makes you come here to Paris?"

"Work." Bentley replies. "I would like you to do one thing please."

"Anything." He says. There is desperation in his voice; mirroring the desperation that Interpol have to keep him.

"I'm testing some prototypes in the area and your cars and radios are drastically affecting the sensitive equipment I have. I need you to go back to the police station for about an hour while I conduct the tests." Bentley explains calmly. The lead agent turns to his underlings.

"You heard him, back to the station." He shouts. Some of them obediently go back to their cars and drive off. Others are sceptical about the whole incident, but orders are orders. They go off as well.

The rest of the gang goes up to Bentley; surprised he wasn't immediately turned into turtle soup.

"How did you…?" Carmelita asks, confused at what happened.

"Your organisation is heavily reliant on technology, the people like me are the ones with power." Bentley explains in a way that tries to hide the true reason, it might make Carmelita jealous or worried that he's working for the same organisation.

"You can just do that?" Murray asks.

"Yeah, it's great isn't it?" Bentley replies happily. They all get into the van, there is one thing they must do before leaving Paris. Sly might not appreciate the van being pink on arrival. So it's a visit to the paint shop in the night. Murray knows all the garages and part shops around the city. He even paints that car himself, he has it down to a fine art; the spraying is done in a motion akin to a robot painter on a production line. But it creates the near perfect finish that Murray is aiming for. Being a frequent customer, he knows about all of the 'other' products that come in. One such item is QD15 paint, as the name implies, it dries in 15 minutes. Using that blue colour on the van only brings more memories of Sly, but they are happy ones, as they are only as far away from Sly as the distance to Bentley's lab, wherever it is. Murrays gets the signature flames on the front as well and after 40 minutes, they are on the move again. They are long gone before the police arrive to find what has happened.

Murray plows on through the night in the fast lane, the only lane worth driving for 'The Murray'. Carmelita is sitting back, catching up on some sleep. Busting criminals is hard work, let alone the amount that she gets through. But her dreams are only filled with one thing. Sly, Sly, Sly. The knowledge that they will be together soon brings warmth to her heart. No matter how much of a cold-hearted vixen she is at Interpol. Bentley is still making calculations and looking at the museum artefact. The size and shape are particularly important, as it can shed light on the history of the Cooper cane. Together with his research on the Thievius Raccoonus, it could lead to a more detailed history of the Coopers. As the kilometres fly by, they all slowly fall asleep, but they don't have to stop. Bentley has another gadget for that, at the next turn off, he gets into the drivers seat and places his wheelchair at the controls, allowing them all to be fresh for the morning. They don't want to meet Sly looking like wrecks.

No one batters an eye on the outside to the fact that this van has no living driver. The long metal arms protruding from the chair hold the steering wheel, and radar guided cruise control does the pedals. Even at toll checkpoints, they slip through; electronic tagging systems help with that. At the Border crossing, Bentley is woken up by a beeping in his ear. This prompts him to show their passports to immigration and they pass through, the Schengen Area has allowed for easy travel across Europe, for all types. Bentley is surprised that Carmelita didn't get checked, considering they are searching for her but he knows why. He has experienced the bureaucracy that plagues every government organisation, even if it was for 2 weeks. He couldn't just simply build something, it has to be checked against several accreditations and OH&S. It's another reason he prefers working with Sly, not that he needs another reason to. They have been best friends since the age of eight. What other reason do you need to need? Working with your mates doing the things you love is something that most people could only dream of.


	6. Chapter 5 - An Unseen Reunion

**Amsterdam, The Netherlands. 3:23am 24 July 2013.**

He has outlasted the camera crew as usual, while others lie fat on the floor, Dimitri is still going. He has left this club for now; they shut at 1am and that is way too early for the disco-dancing Iguana. He heads off to his dirty, or rather smoky secret. Living the fast paced life he has is tiring. Even for those who can 'rock a party to the early light' as he would say. He just wanted to slow down. So, in one of the 'coffee shops' in the Dutch capital, he lights a joint. He gets around the limitation of not selling to tourists by having a forged EU Dutch passport, he still hasn't lost his abilities as a counterfeit artist. So here he is, smoking away in the shop when the blue van he hasn't seen in 8 years arrives on his doorstep. He is too stoned to realise the significance of it, but he gets up and stumbles his way to the van, Bentley opens up the side door of the van where Dimitri walks slowly towards the van, joint in hand, and falls in, making him fall asleep. The thud wakes them all up. Carmelita half draws her gun, expecting to be ambushed. Murray isn't that fazed.

"Is that?" Carmelita asks herself, she turns to see Dimitri lying in the back with smoke surrounding him. "Cannabis?"

"We're not far away." Bentley says, trying to downplay the situation, he just wants to get to Sly as fast as possible. But she is right, the smell lingers in the air. Drugs are a big part of what Carmelita deals with, many drug smugglers have been put away by this vixen, she know the laws here are different, even if she doesn't agree with them. The windows are opened fully as they drive to the location of Bentley's lab, or rather Bentley's chair drives them. The van stops outside a small shoe shop in the centre of Amsterdam, It doesn't look like the place for a top-secret lab. That's just how Bentley wanted it to be. He gets the half awake gang out of the van and walks them out of the van. Then opens up the shop.

"Is this your lab?" Murray asks seriously.

"Yeah, it's just not in this room." Bentley replies.

"Do you have a shoe fetish or something?" Carmelita asks. Bentley let's the possible paraplegic joke go.

"It's the perfect cover, the back entrance is actually a cargo elevator. Murray you can drive around and park the van in there." Bentley instructs. Murray does as he says while the rest of them, slightly more awake now, move into the back room. Which contains an elevator that leads down to the lab.

"Why is your lab here?" Carmelita asks. Bentley hesitates briefly.

"Because _she_ chose it." Bentley replies loudly like he's wanted to get it off his chest. Carmelita didn't expect such a response from Bentley, he never seemed like a shouty type, even when he did his plans. They descend down to the lab. To Bentley, it is home. To the others, it's a sea of white. The time machine parts are in a corner, waiting to be re-assembled when needed. Everything is quiet inside, even the elevators are quiet, they are magnetically suspended along the shaft along for fast transportation and quiet movement. The van is already downstairs with Murray looking at all the glowing lights and flashing dials. Bentley is already getting into putting the time machine back together. This moment has been planned and rehearsed several times. It is like a blur watching Bentley assemble the piece back together. When they see this happening, one can only appreciate his brilliance even more. In about 5 minutes, with Murray's help, it is re-assembled to the van. But being the detective Carmelita is, she spots something that doesn't belong, a huge pink graffiti tag, the same as they saw in the alley. The room which it is in is completely empty.

"She's been here." Carmelita announces. Bentley drops everything and rushes to the scene.

"Everything of hers was here when I left for you guys. She's erasing her tracks." Bentley concludes.

"Someone having trouble letting go." Carmelita jokes, noting that her stuff was still there after 3 weeks since the betrayal. Bentley gets right on the offensive.

"I could say the same for you." Bentley replies.

"Touché." Carmelita replies back, that comment really hit hard. She regrets instantly saying it in the first place. Murray comes to change the mood.

"Hey Bentley, did you make a giant pizza oven here? I'm starving." Murray announces. I guess 5 pizzas in Paris are not enough for Murray.

"Yeah, but we need to get Sly back now" Bentley says as he wheels his chair back to the time machine. The final adjustments are made and the cane is placed in the receptacle. The time machine is on; they are going to get Sly back.

**Cairo, Egypt. Night-time, 1298 B.C.**

Sly is sleeping, although not well. Throughout the day he has being trying to complete a heist, from 6 attempts, 6 failures. It ends the same way, a card and a coin. They lay on a table in the main hut. Sly still wonders how he, the greatest thief of the modern era, is not able to perform one simple heist. He doesn't doubt his fitness, or his technique. He just is always one step behind this warlord. It's like he's taunting Sly; Drawing him out of hut in search of riches and finding nothing. It's become about more than money; he never needed it in the first place. It is now about pride, Sly needs to get his confidence back. So in the cover of darkness, he sneaks out and aims to steal something, anything that could help him get his confidence back. There was one thing that Slytunkahmen II was talking about before he went to bed, an iron dagger kept in the palace. While most thefts he had read about in this time period were about gold, iron was a more valuable commodity in ancient Egypt.

He has been noticing something strange recently as he wandered the streets in the day. Every time he goes into a shadow, he gets weird looks from people. Sly doesn't see anything different with himself; he's just an outsider to this town. It's hard to not stand out if you're the only one with a colour other than blue and yellow on you. On the way to the iron dagger, he puts more effort into his moves than usual, trying to block any possible faults associated with himself. This warlord has tormented him, trying to sap all of the will and spirit from Sly for some purpose. Sly gets into the palace under the cover of darkness, He hides in the shadows of the throne room, away from anyone that could find them, the guards maintain their positions beside the empty throne, unaware of the thief amongst them. A small room that is meant to be holding the dagger is now full of something else, cards, too many for Sly to count. He sees the guards who were guarding this room almost drowning in the cards.

"Whoever is doing this must have something to do with me." Sly utters to himself. Using a conveniently placed sack in the corner, he fills it up with as many cards as he can and carries it over his shoulder out of the palace. As he stands atop the stairs leading into the palace, he spots something that seems out of the ordinary. Light, not just the flickering fires scattered around the city, but artificial light.

**Cairo, Egypt. 3:34am 1298 B.C.**

The gang arrive in Ancient Egypt, but it is almost pitch black except for the fires that are almost burnt out. It would be impossible to find Sly in this light; he could be anywhere.

"Why don't I rev the engine, he'll definitely hear this." Murray says, as he is about to stamp on the accelerator. Bentley intervenes quickly.

"We can't wake up everyone in the city. We get Sly and return to figure out what to do next." Bentley warns.

"Urgh, we'll never find him in this light, even with thermovision." Carmelita says. It pains her to wait a few more hours before they can have a chance to find him. They hear a noise coming from the rooftops, they can't see anything in the darkness.

"Guys!" Says a jubilated voice in the night. It sounds a lot like Sly's voice to them. Carmelita thinks she's gone insane and can hear a voice in her head, the voice of Sly. The sound gets closer and closer but they still see nothing. Sly is now right next to them shouting but they see nothing.

"Sly?" Bentley says, unsure whether this voice is Sly.

"I'm right in front of you." Sly happily says, he is ecstatic that he is reunited with his gang again. Sly goes right up to Bentley and waves his hand frantically in front of him. While Bentley wears glasses, Sly doesn't think his vision is that bad that he can't see him. Sly is having his own doubts as well. Are these the actual members of his gang or are they a figment of his mind? He goes over to Carmelita and gives her a hug. This catches Carmelita off guard, she can't see anything either, only feeling the tight squeeze around her torso.

"It's me." The calm reassuring voice of Sly states to Carmelita gently into her ear.

"Sly? I can't see you?" Carmelita worryingly says, wondering if she has gone mad.

"I guess you are blinded by my love." Sly jokingly states. Carmelita now knows that this is Sly, even though she still can't see him, only someone of Sly's humour would even dare to pull that joke off. She embraces the air as well. Murray is confused, to him, it looks like Carmelita is hugging the air. He takes out his binocucom and turns it to thermovision, the outline of Sly is clearly visible. He stands stunned at what is happening.

"You're invisible Sly." Murray blurts out as he hands the binocucom to Bentley who confirms it, this cuts the atmosphere that is between the two lovers.

"Am i?" Sly asks Carmelita, slightly worried about the prospect.

"Yeah." She says after a small hesitation. This causes Sly to step back slightly; he is not one to be afraid of many things. But this really scares him, has he been invisible all this time? He takes a look at himself, in the darkness he can still see his body, his hands, his cane, his feet. They are all visible to him and they are not visible to them. Suddenly another figure emerges from the darkness, it is Slytunkahmen II.

"Sly? What are you doing out here? Who are these people?" Slytunkahmen II asks frantically.

"These are my gang, Bentley, Murray and Carmelita." Sly explains, he turns visible again but is aware of it.

"And Dimitri." Bentley adds, not seeing Sly's transformation.

"Dimitri's here?" Sly asks. They notice him now. Slytunkahmen II isn't surprised about Sly's new ability.

"Yeah." Bentley says, both surprised and shocked at Sly's re-emergence. "He's in the back." Sly walks over to the van to see Dimitri lying on the floor, burnt-out joint in hand in a pile of smoke that wafts out as Sly opens the door.

"Looks like that's the crazy iguana I know." Sly says to the completely motionless body so heavily baked. Sly turns around to Bentley while holding the sack he brought with him.

"I was wondering if you could take a look at this for me." Sly asks Bentley. Sly dumps all the cards over the sleeping Dimitri, he doesn't feel a thing. Bentley picks up one of the cards, it doesn't a take a genius turtle to see who it is.

"We need to talk now." Bentley says to Sly, he is worried about the implications of this card. Yet another card is going to cause him so much trouble.


	7. Chapter 6 - Sly's Breakdown

**Slytunkahmen II's hut, Cairo, Egypt. 3:39am 1298 B.C.**

The gang move back to the Egyptian's hut. They could become targets of the pharaoh if they don't hide. Murray drives the van beside the hut and covers it with an awning. They all head inside to discuss this revelation.

"This card belongs to her, Sly." Bentley explains. Sly looks at Carmelita, being really confused about the situation.

"Not her, her." Bentley says. Sly doesn't know who this 'her' is.

"It's Penelope, Sly." Carmelita clearly explains. Bentley doesn't want to mention her name after the incident.

"It can't be, I've seen no giant mechanical beasts or robots around here." Sly explains. Slytunkahmen just hears these words like it's a different language to him. "Besides, she couldn't pull a heist by herself, let alone 6."

"That's what we need to talk about." Bentley reaffirms. "This card is her symbol. In the present, she has gotten out of prison, stolen from 2 top-secret labs, one of them being mine, and the museum of history in Paris. No one has been able to find any trace of her since her breakout. I think she's gone back in time to get you."

"But why?" Sly asks.

"She's going to blackmail me to get me to work for her making weapons." Bentley explains with more urgency.

"Hold that Bentley, I have one question." Sly says as he turns to his ancestor. "How am I invisible?"

"That's simple, a combination of drinks and the dark environment make you turn invisible. Bentley is curious to see how this works.

"Do you know how?" Bentley asks.

"I have no clue, I discovered it by accident." Slytunkahmen replies like he is surprised that it even worked. "I was testing herbal remedies for a pain in my head, next thing I know, I'm invisible." As he says this, Bentley thinks over to the Thievius Raccoonus, remembering if there was any mention of how he became invisible. It was known that he had the ability called the 'shadow power'. But how he did it was a mystery.

"In fact, Sly was my test subject." Slytunkahmen continues. Sly is slightly angry that he did it without his consent. But he's happy. He can turn invisible and that's definitely a good trade off. "I can only control it by drinking the mixture, the more I drink, the longer I'm invisible. But with your friend, he should be able to control it whenever he wants, but only by focusing hard on being invisible." Bentley understands this means, the legendary Cooper focus that all Coopers have, making them able to perform feats of thievery unmatched by any other. Sly tests it out, he can in fact turn invisible when he wants.

"Woah!" Sly says as he jumps in and out of their vision.

"I'm tired, I'm gonna go to sleep." Murray blurts out; he barely makes it two steps before a loud thud signifies 'The Murray' is asleep. Everyone thinks the same way after this, it's almost 4 in the morning and they are all very tired. The gang goes into the basement to sleep, it becomes their hideout for the night.

Or maybe not so hidden for one pink mouse hearing everything they have said from an expertly placed bug. It's so clever it must be Bentley's idea. No, Penelope completely rejects that thought, he may have defeated her once but this is now a marathon, not a sprint. It may be 3 weeks since her breakout but she has been making herself very busy over the past few weeks. While Sly was busy living life on the other side law, Penelope was doing the reverse. Breaking out of prison was a cinch, stealing everything was easy. This may even test her new abilities slightly. They key to it all was of course the master thieves handbook resting in Bentley's lab. The book suspended in position, it was hard for her not to ignore it and the possibilities that could open up. So while Bentley had gone to find some advanced composites for their 'secret project', she got busy reading the book, which revealed many secrets: How to steal things properly, how to move silently, how to stand on points, how to walk on wires. A treasure trove of things that drove her to one conclusion. She had ignored one of the most important machines that everyone has, themselves. No mechanical beast was silent or stealthy; they were always clunky and expensive. So every time Bentley went out of the lab for some reason, she would practice. It didn't take long before she was wall jumping off the elevator shaft and climbing the various machines they had built.

It helped her breakout of prison too, the building was easy to scale and climb out of without leaving any evidence. Apart from the tag she spray painted and photographed, all using stolen items obtained from the guards room. This was to signify one of the biggest manhunts in history. Interpol was flat out trying to figure out what happened but nothing ever came up. Her other heists got her the necessary parts to re-built a time machine from scratch. From the plans she gave to Le Paradox, she suspected that after the incident Sly would be in Ancient Egypt. The time displacement measurements she did confirmed this. So she began dropping the line to Bentley, subtly as to not provoke a reaction. She has been planning this since her defeat and it will not go wrong, she will not allow it to. The time has come; the obvious snoring from the bug tells her that they are asleep. The snoring is so loud it hurts her ears; someone must be right next to the bug. She enters through the door and silently she begins her plan.

**Slytunkahmen II's Hut, Cairo, Egypt. 7:43am 1298 B.C.**

The gang are still asleep in the den, the light, streaking through the hole in the roof goes onto Sly's face, the warmth of the sun wakes him up. It's like Carmelita giving him a kiss; instead it's a ball of fusing hydrogen 150 million kilometres away. Sly is the first up, it's been a long night for the others and they are still fast asleep. Sly gets up and a feeling of dread and shock pulsates through him like has been hit with Carmelita's shock pistol, not like he has, but this is probably what it feels like. His cane, his only reminder of his father is gone. It was there, sitting up against the wall and now it isn't. Sly wants to shout as loud as he can, so loud it will shake to roof from the earth. He covers his mouth and shouts into his gloved hands. He is in two minds, one wants to just flare up and break that mouse in two and get the cane back, the other half is trying to restrain himself. Impulse versus training. In the end, he lies back down to make sense of what has just happened. He pinches himself several times.

"This has to be a nightmare," he thinks to himself as he tries to transfer himself out of this world. But no relief is imminent. He has to face the reality that his signature cane is stolen. Wherever Le Paradox was, he would be both shocked and pleased. Pleased that someone had beaten Sly but shocked as it also means that he would the 3rd best thief in the world and one can't really be a thief in a cell. The emotions clear from Sly's head to go and wake his gang up frantically one by one.

"My cane's gone, someone's been in here." Sly frantically says to everyone in the room, worried that every passing second his cane gets slightly further out of reach. As he gets to Murray, he sees a note resting atop his huge belly. Sly picks it up careful not to disturb his sleep. It reads.

"Sly, You know who I am, you have lost something very dear to you. I have lost something as well, you see, it's green surrounded by various bits of metal with two wheels attached to it. I would like to have it back; in return I'll give you back what I have. It's fair right? You'll know where to find me."

On the back is another card, Sly just stands over the motionless Murray and tears up the note into tiny pieces and then tears those pieces into tiny pieces. Sly is in a battle with himself, confused about what to do. As he tears up the note, the other members of the gang see what he is doing.

"Sly? Are you ok?" Carmelita asks in a calm and concerned way.

"It's just happened, you see. The ancestors, now me." Sly explains coming to terms with his own failings. His head hung low.

"It's okay Sly, we have these lows." Bentley starts.

"Not like this." Sly finishes, he has fallen into a mood that is no good for him, this leads only to self destruction to a life unheard of by Sly. It's called the normal world.

"But it's not how we handle the success, it's about rising up from the failures. We will get your cane back." Bentley says like he's addressing a team when they are down at half time. Sly stands up straight and takes a deep breath; he pauses to think to himself. He has been through a lot in the last 2 minutes. Sly makes the realisation that clears his mind which puts him back in touch with reality.

"Thanks Bentley, Let's go." Sly quietly says to the group watching him from the stairs. The gang slowly walks outside; Bentley tickles Murray to wake him up, the laughing is felt through the ground. As they walk outside, a banging noise is coming from the van.

"Get me out of here." A muffled Dimitri shouts as he bangs against the door.

Murray opens up his van and Dimitri falls out of the van, he no longer is stoned but now has some ropes tied around him.

"Dimitri?" Bentley says.

"Untie me." Dimitri shouts back at them. Sly gets to work untying the ropes, usually he's on the other side of the ropes. It makes it much easier to untie if you're not tied up yourself.

"She got me, I hear her outside and I was like breaking out of here to lay it down on her. But before I knew, I was tied up." Dimitri says.

"Look, I'm sorry I left you in there." Sly apologies.

"It's cool." Dimitri says accepting his apology. In the distance a flash of light catches Sly's eye, it looks like his cane, the golden light brings hope and promise to Sly. He starts to walk towards it. The others follow behind him, thinking that he's in some kind of trance, unable to look away. Sly moves quicker and quicker until he is at full pace and leaping across the rooftops. The gang can't catch up with his pace and can only glimpse him as he leaps across the narrow alleyways. Sly is in his own mind, focused on the spot where the shining is. The spot moves down through the roof of one particular house. Sly jumps up and breaks through the roof, the pain he doesn't feel as the mud brick crumbles from the force of Sly. The dust settles around this house, and sly sees one thing, no cane, no Penelope, no cards, just a single note. Another note.

"Too slow Sly, I guess this will make me lots of money at auction."

At auction? How could she do something like this? Sly just can't make sense of it all, but in his body, a tear rolls down his eye, one becomes two, two becomes a burst dam. He collapses beside the collapsed rubble. The gang see this breakdown right in front of their eyes; no one dares make a sound. Sly is in his own universe now. Inadvertently he turns invisible, trying to hide himself from this world and anyone who may be around him. Bentley courageously breaks the invisible barrier between the invisible Sly and himself.

"Sly." Bentley caringly says to his best friend. The sobbing doesn't stop, but his invisibly does at the sound of Bentley's voice. Bentley even more courageously puts an arm around him. Sly doesn't try to fight the touch on his back.

"Cheer up Sly, so she got away, but we will bounce back." Bentley says in the same tone.

"Don't you see, that cane was my fathers cane, the only thing I have of his is now gone." Sly despairingly says as he tries to fight back the tears.

"You need to see the guru, he helped me out heaps after what happened with Bentley." Murray adds.

"I don't need some guru, I need my cane." Sly replies angrily although he is not angry towards Murray, it's more towards himself.

"Sly, Let's go back to the present and we can sort this out. We will get your cane back." Bentley instructs Sly.

"I hope so." Sly says as he dries his eyes. This has been just about his lowest point of his career. Sobbing uncontrollably in a half demolished building in ancient Egypt after having one of his most prized possessions taken away from him is what has just happened. He has to face that reality. He gets up and looks at the group surrounding him. They have seen it all. The expression on Sly's face says sorry to his gang for what they have just witnessed. But he is really sorry with himself. He walks towards them and walks past them, wanting to return to the van. The gang walks just behind Sly to give him the space he needs. It seems to be working because Sly is having a rethink; going over the things he's seen and done. This needs to be done quickly, no one can be anything without the right attitude and what Sly has done is about as far away as you can get. He can't get his cane back if he is in this state. He wipes the last remainder of tears from his face and stands straight and is now determined to get it back. The gang senses he is getting himself back in order. Sly turns to face them.

"Let's go." He says, eager to get started. Slytunkahmen is now satisfied that he will go back to his own time in the right way. He knows this is the end of their journey here. He's going to write this down on the few sheets of papyrus entrusted to him by his dad. Murray gets the van going and they all enter to return to the present. The hunt for the cane is on.


	8. Chapter 7 - Cane and Able

**Bentley's lab, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. 8:02am 24 July 2013.**

The gang safely returns to the confines of Bentley's lab. But everyone was focused on Sly, the great thief that they had seen breakdown right in front of them. For someone who is so controlled, so calm; he can really pour out his emotions. But while Sly was looking fine on the outside, he feels like a piece of him is missing. The cane had become an extension of his arm. Bentley gets straight to work on a replacement cane, Sly isn't as good if doesn't have one, no matter if it is his actual cane or not. Using the dimensions from the Thievius Raccoonus, Bentley crafts a new cane from carbon fibre, he gives it to Sly but he can already tell that it doesn't fix his problems. Sly accepts out of good gesture but inside he knows that this isn't his cane, no matter how correct the shape or size. Meanwhile, Murray tests out that pizza oven and gets his fill of food and Dimitri just sits in the back of the van, not thinking about anything, but just sitting there. Carmelita is more concerned about Sly. She has seen him bawl his eyes out, while Sly is a criminal, it doesn't mean that he has no emotion or compassion. But in her eyes, Sly has all of those things and more.

Bentley then gets on the search for the cane and it doesn't take long before a hit comes up. It's already been sold on ThiefNet for a measly $100. Bentley thought that such an item would command millions. But speed is what she wants, to get rid of the cane to some far away place, leading them away from her. Bentley hacks into the buyers account and it turns out to be in Melbourne. Just about as far away as you get from the lab. So immediately, they all head off to Australia.

**Melbourne, Australia. 9:21pm 25 July 2013. **

The gang arrives in this city still figuring out where exactly this mysterious buyer was. Bentley knew he was in this city, but the profile doesn't say much else. He scans the IP Address that made the purchase and tracks it to one building.

"The club?" Bentley asks himself. Dimitri overhears this. A club, this was his time to shine.

"First of all, you guys can't go in looking like that. Luckily the Di-mi-tri is going to turn my homies from drab dorks into super fly guys." Dimitri announces. They park the van nearby and they head off to the nearest fashion outlet. Sly isn't a fan of his fashion critiques. But what does a master thief know about clubbing. In no time, Dimitri takes a load of clothes off the racks and they try them all on.

"Are you sure about this?" Bentley asks Dimitri while in the changing rooms.

"Trust me, I'm a counterfeit artist, clubbing legend and wardrobe master, I know what my bros need." Dimitri replies. Bentley is the first to get changed. He wears a snapback cap with aviator glasses and a green shirt that reads 'wheeling and dealing' on front.

"Absolutely fabulous, don't you think?" Dimitri asks Bentley

"It is a little…" Bentley starts, he was going to try to let Dimitri down easy about his poor fashion choices but Dimitri interrupts.

"Chic, hip, avant-garde?" Dimitri asks.

"No, it's..." Bentley tries to say.

"All three." Dimitri says like he's trying to shovel words into Bentley's mouth. The others step out of changing rooms. Murray is wearing a denim jacket that won't button up for obvious reasons and tight denim jeans. Sly feels slightly insecure with what he has on, tight black pants with a blue stripe running up the length of them with a tight long sleeve shirt like the one he normally wears. In place of his mask is a pair of matte black sunglasses.

"Sunglasses inside?" Sly asks Dimitri.

"You are just totally fabulous, you're super fly Sly." Dimitri says like he's prepared that one for a while. However one of the gang has not come out, it's Carmelita. They all surround her booth as they wait for her appearance.

"I can't believe you want me to wear this." Carmelita shouts out of the booth to the crowd that has gathered around her booth. Reluctantly she goes out, everyone is stunned. None more so than Sly whose jaw has fallen as low as it can go. She wears a short skirt with a short tank top and jacket covering it.

"You look amazing." Sly says in awe. Dimitri nods in agreement.

"You don't look so bad yourself." Carmelita replies back.

"Shall we?" Sly asks as he puts an arm around his girlfriend. They reach the cash register and the total reads $3423.45. Dimitri hands out a wad of cash on the counter and they all walk out. His counterfeit money will never get detected, the clockwerk tail feathers produced a perfect replica. They walk back down the street with people looking at this gang's style. Dimitri takes this all as a complement to his fashion sense, he's happy to take all the credit for his work. As they approach the club, they see an obvious problem; the line goes around the block. They'll have to wait hours to get inside. But why wait when you have the best master thief in the world. His new carbon cane fits in with his outfit perfectly and he waits around for the right opportunity. Soon enough, a group of VIP's come walking past, flashing their passes at the waiting patrons in a show of superiority. Sly goes up to them and relives all 5 of them of their passes, making for an awkward situation when they arrive at the door.

"This cane isn't half bad." Sly tells Bentley while handing out the passes.

"Glad you like it." Bentley answers.

"But it still isn't the same." Sly says. This lowers Bentley's feeling slightly as from a scientific perspective, the new cane is indisputably superior. It's stronger, lighter and tougher. But the sentimental value for Sly is too great; it's what he knows. The gang walk up to the bouncers and hand over the passes and they enter into a world filled with bass, drink and girls. If this were underwater, Dimitri would be in heaven. Sly spots the entrance for the upper level but it is heavily guarded. Bentley already has a plan that he has been dying to try out since their trip to Ancient Arabia.

"You know those hypnotic tones?" Bentley starts.

"You didn't?" Sly starts, he could see Bentley's fascination with the sounds as soon as he saw it for himself.

"I did" Bentley says as he pulls out a device. "You plug this into the DJ set and it will create music no one can stop dancing to. Just make sure you wear these headphones while it's on otherwise you won't be able to stop yourself." Bentley hands out a pair to each of the gang members before wheeling himself up to the stage. He sneaks on without the DJ noticing and plugs in the device, to the casual observer, the music hasn't changed, but it's at the sub audible frequency that makes the patrons get down. Bentley give a thumbs up and they proceed to the open stairwell, which the guards have departed from to dance to the fresh new beat. Bentley remains behind to literally control the dance floor as the gang make their way up the stairs. Once on the top floor they remove the headphones and they hear the sound of a gangster, but not just any gangster, the same on that Sly stole from on that night.

"How do you like my cane girls?" The gangster shouts to his escorts, the smell of champagne is overpowering for the gang waiting at the top of the stairs. He must be as drunk as a skunk.

"I can't believe I got such a cane for 100 bucks. This is it, you know what I mean? I've finally got it. Now it's my cane, no, even better idea. It's my pimp cane. Heh, how do you like that?" He asks his girls. A pimp cane? The very mention of such denigration towards his cane is outright filthy like the bass being pumped out by Bentley downstairs. This causes Sly to act; he sneaks around the room and up to the heavily intoxicated wombat where he relieves him of his 'pimp cane' and returns back to the gang. This theft was about as easy as the first time they met.

"I'm glad to have you back." Sly says to his old cane as they start to walk down the stairs.

"Don't get too attached to that cane." Carmelita warns Sly.

"There's always room for you Carm." Sly answers back. However their conversation is cut short by an angry wombat staring down at them from the top of the stairs.

"Give me back my cane!" He shouts down the stairs. Murray, sensing the danger, rushes in front of Sly.

"You'll have to go through me first." Murray boldly states.

"No problem." The gangster says with a hint of drunkenness to his voice. He reaches into his jacket pocket and fumbles for his gun, but he barely grabs the gun out of the jacket before a shock pulsates through his body, rendering him unconscious. Carmelita's marksmanship has saved Murray's life.

"Thanks Carmelita, you saved my life." Murray thanks his saviour.

"I wasn't going to let some low life scum get the better of us." She replies. By now the unconscious body of the gangster has fallen down the stairs at Murray's knees. In a display of strength, he picks up the body and throws it back up the stairs where the bag of bones slams against the wall. They decide at this point that it is a good time to leave.

"Bentley, we are coming down." Sly radios to Bentley who is having great time being at the head of the party. He sees the gang come back down and removes the device from the DJ set. The crowd is taken out of their trance like state and return to being normal except for the screams shouting "Bentley! Bentley! Bentley!" Coming from the patrons as they rush out of the club and into the van. Where they rush back to Europe, needing to make up for lost time on Penelope.

**International Waters, 10400m above sea level. Night-time 26 July 2013.**

Not many people would think a van is capable of sustaining flight, but then again, not many people have decided to fit a jet engine and wings to a van. Its one of Bentley's great traits, being able to think of something to build and then build it. Most people can dream it, but not many can build it. The time machine is a classic example. The idea has been around in science fiction for ages yet no one has built one until Bentley made one. But in this van right now the gang plans their next move. They have ditched their clothes from the night much to Dimitri's discontent and now they talk quietly in the van, Bentley has engineered a device in the van's sound system that act like noise cancelling headphones.

"Who else knows about Penelope?" Sly asks the group of them. Bentley is doing intensive research to find out who his ex girlfriend really is, anything at all would help him but nothing comes up.

"She flies planes, she makes gadgets. Do you know of any other labs she may have worked at?" Sly asks Bentley as he tries to think out loud the situation.

"She's a ghost, no details, no apparent family history." Bentley explains. Suddenly an idea so preposterous comes into his head, it just might work. Sly will never agree to it. So he decides to go for it anyway. He inputs the coordinates into the flight computer so now they are going to the place that they have been trying to avoid during their entire career as thieves.


	9. Chapter 8 - Interrogation time

**Maximum-security prison, Exact Location Classified, Europe. 9:45am 26 July 2013.**

20 hours, and several fuel stops later, the gang arrives at the toughest maximum-security prison in all of Europe. It's so infamous it's just known as 'the chasm' because once you got in you were never going to get out. By this time they had gotten rid of the jet engine and were driving up to the prison itself. The plan was simple. Carmelita would use her police credentials to get Sly inside so they can interrogate a prisoner who might know something else about the pink Dutch mouse. Bentley hasn't told anyone about the true nature of the prisoner yet, but he has managed to arrange this meet by using Carmelita's Interpol account. They pull up to the prison itself in the van where Carmelita and Sly get out and the others go wait in the parking lot. Sly doesn't have a clue what they are doing here but knows he has to conceal his identity, he is wearing is black shirt with a turtleneck and karki pants.

"I'll get you in then you need to interrogate the prisoner." Carmelita tells Sly.

"I thought you were going to put me in jail." Sly jokes. He then gets on the sarcasm. "Hopefully he or she doesn't hold any grudges against me."

"You can bet on that." She answers. "Before I forget, Bentley told me for you to put on this." She gives Sly what looks like a sticker with heaps of circuitry on it. "You tape it to your neck." She instructs. Sly does what he is told and hides it behind the high neck.

"What does this do?" He says in Carmelita's voice. "Bentley, what did you do? He radios to Bentley.

"Sorry Carmelita, I was looking for Sly." Bentley jokes. The others are laughing their faces off in the van.

"Bentley, you know who I am." He says now with Bentley's voice. They are just cracking up in the van.

"Of course I know who I am." Bentley says before laughing so hard he almost breaks his shell.

"Bentley, you can load up the actual voice now." Carmelita radios to Bentley in order to get serious.

"Very funny Bentley." Sly says none too impressed at his antics.

"Okay, he's what you'll be sounding like." Bentley says as he loads up the right voice.

"Testing." Sly says cautiously, he sounds like Dimitri, which is definitely not what he wanted. "Do you want me to sound ridiculous?"

"Do you want to be caught?" Bentley says, trying to make a point. The couple walk into the prison entrance where they are greeted by a guard at the checkpoint. She flashes her badge at them.

"He's with me." She tells the guard on duty.

"We need to check that badge ma'am." The guard tells Carmelita.

"At least you're doing your job correctly." She complements the guard.

"It's what I've been doing for 8 years now." The guard replies back as he scans he badge, the result comes up red. No entry.

"Is there something you're trying to pull on me?" The guard says half suspicious of their true reason here. He knows they have booked to be there but there have been attempts like this before.

"I'm from Interpol, surely you can check again." She asks him.

"Bentley can you hack into the security systems?" Sly quietly whispers into the earpiece.

"Sure thing Dimitri." He replies back. The joke is getting old now but he gets down to business. Meanwhile the badge doesn't clear the security scanner again.

"I'm sorry, it's not valid." The guard tells Carmelita.

"Just one more time, I insist." Carmelita pleas to the guard. Reluctantly he gives it just one last time. It comes up green.

"Oh, sorry Ms. Fox, about the malfunction, these systems need replacing anyway." The guard quickly explains to the Interpol agent, fearing his job may have just ended.

"Don't shoot yourself over it." She replies back. Sly and Carmelita walk down the hallway to the interrogation room. The room is made up of two areas. A raised area, fitted with one-way glass so you can see the prisoner but they can't see you, and an area that is completely bare except for a chair and table. The two of them go into the upper area. Ready to receive the prisoner.

"So who is it I'm meeting?" Sly asks Carmelita, he has been dying for the answer.

"He should be coming in right now." Carmelita tells Sly. She has her own doubts about this meeting as well. But in plain sight there is nothing to hide from the raw truth that confronts them now. In walks Le Paradox with 2 guards in biohazard gear to protect them from the foul smell. The fact that this is even happening causes Sly to boil with rage at the presence of le Paradox. However he consoles himself with the fact that he has already gotten the better of him before. He gets down to the business of interrogation. The voice changer is turned on. The microphone is turned on. The reunion begins.

"Mister Le Paradox, I'm from Interpol and I'm investigating the disappearance of Penelope from prison." Sly asks Le Paradox using Dimitri's voice.

"She what? I know nothing about this." The skunk replies back, surprised that she has the ability to escape a prison.

"You worked with her previously I understand." Sly adds.

"She was the smart one, but escaping from prison? She's couldn't do that?" Le Paradox questions himself and his interrogator.

"Was there anything, weird about her?" Sly asks Le Paradox.

"She kept on stealing my artworks, my priceless artworks. Can you recover them for me? If you do I'll give full cooperation, and I know how much you cops treasure that." He says already scheming his opportunities.

"That's not going to work out for the both of us." Sly replies back.

"Just a few paintings, that's all." Le Paradox makes the task seem quite easy. But Sly isn't going to fall for it.

"I'm not going to be tricked again." Sly returns fire.

"Again? What do you mean? I've never met you before." Le Paradox asks his unknown interrogator.

"It's just I fell for that trick working on my last case. It didn't turn out well for me." Sly answers, expertly recovering the situation.

"That's too bad, you have my greatest sympathies." Le Paradox apologises sarcastically. Carmelita senses it might get out of hand, despite her own hate for Le Paradox, she urges Sly to concentrate on the mission.

"Back to Penelope." She whispers in his ear.

"Penelope, Do you know what she's doing now?" Sly says returning to the subject of Penelope.

"It might be on those paintings that I want back." Le Paradox answers.

"Your paintings are probably hanging up in a public gallery somewhere for the entire world to see your poor taste in art." Sly retorts back.

"That's it, take me back to my cell where I can't hear your pathetic taste in art." Le Paradox replies, angry that his taste has been brought into question. Bentley tries to pull the reins back on Sly.

"Sly, you need to contain whatever grudges you have so we can get the info." He messages to Sly over the radio. But Sly has already taken off the voice changer and has given it to Carmelita. She assumes the role of interrogator while Sly tries to get out of the room. Bentley has already been quick to contain them, locking them inside so they don't do anything drastic. Sly is trying to pick the electronic lock while Carmelita is speaking.

"So Mister Le Paradox, you better tells us now or it will get very uncomfortable in your cell." She says in Dimitri's voice.

"There's nothing you could take away." Le Paradox tries to explain to the interrogator.

"What if I put something in?" She suggests.

"That's very dangerous; I can get out using anything." Le paradox boasts.

"Some distasteful art? Some perfume perhaps?" She suggests again.

"Pah, nothing really matters." Le Paradox says trying to deceive the interrogator by moping.

"This information matters." She says to Le Paradox.

"I'm in a cell for life plus 100 years, I have nothing to live for." He repeats in his moping ways.

"Maybe the guards can help you out?" Carmelita suggests, showing that she means business. One of the guards starts to approach Le paradox to roughen him up a little bit but Le paradox is wise to it, he dodges a swing with the butt of the gun and jumps onto the back of the unsuspecting guard to choke him to death using the handcuffs he has attached to his wrists. After the guards body is no longer moving, the skunk takes his gun and points it at the other guard, who in turn points it at him.

"Your friend is dead, you won't shoot me. Put down the gun before I do the same to you." Le Paradox threatens to the guard who seems to be quivering in his boots. They may look tough on the outside but that's not always how things are on the inside.

"Don't put it down." Carmelita instructs from the booth. However the guard puts the gun down, only to be met with a shot to the chest, killing him as well.

"Something I learned in my prison education, now you were going to release me." Le Paradox instructs his interrogator. Suddenly a loud bang is heard as the door to the interrogation room is kicked out. Carmelita looks up and to the side, Sly has gotten out of the booth. Le Paradox unties himself from the handcuffs, sensing it is his opportunity to escape. But as Le paradox tries to leave the room, that door is kicked down as well. Le Paradox tries to shield himself from the barrage of guards that he expects to flood into the room. But no, in through the open door comes the worst possible raccoon to emerge from the shadows, Sly Cooper, standing triumphantly over Le Paradox. Once the skunk grasps the fact of who he is, his jaw drops about as low as it can go and he secretes his stink, afraid of what might happen next.

"Ce n'est pas possible!" Le Paradox says in shock as he collapses to the ground.

"'I don't think we will meet again', I remember you said that to me on the blimp and now, here I am." Sly arrogantly states, making sure to emphasise every single syllable of those seven words.

"Get this raccoon away from me!" Le Paradox shouts towards the booth in despiration.

"Not a chance." Carmelita replies now in her normal voice.

"What is this? I must be dreaming, I'll shoot myself in the head and I'll wake up." Le Paradox says with disbelief and irrationality about the situation around him. He points the gun to his head.

"No!" Sly shouts at Le Paradox. He knows that Le Paradox might be the only key to finding Penelope's hideout despite every fibre of his body wanting to put that sorry skunks life away. But Sly resists, only causing Le Paradox to laugh heartedly on the ground at what happened and Sly is not that impressed, even a little confused. Sly lifts up the ex-thief by his neck with the cane so his feet don't touch the ground.

"Now look, you will tell me about Penelope or I won't make the same mistake as last time." Sly threatens.

"You may as well finish me off here, I'm of no use to you, here, you can use this gun to do it." Le Paradox explains to Sly as he passes the gun to his attacker. Sly still resists.

"Go on, do it." Le Paradox urges Sly, waiting for it to be over with. But Sly doesn't pull the trigger. He drops the gun but catches it with his foot so it doesn't make a sound as it falls down.

"Dying is too good for you; it will be more painful if you stayed in prison." Sly explains, knowing that he has just won this confrontation. The raccoon puts the skunk down and walks back up to the booth with Carmelita. Le Paradox is screaming at him as he walks away.

"No, come back here; put me out of my misery." His anger and fury turns to sobbing at how bad his life has become.

"I'm proud of you Sly." Carmelita complements Sly.

"For what?" Sly asks, he hasn't done anything that, in his eyes, seems, heroic or amazing. He just walked away from a suicidal maniac, what is so good about that?

"You didn't go and kill him, you didn't fall for his lame tricks, I've seen people like this, they think that death is easier than facing the truth, you didn't allow Le Paradox become a martyr to his own cause. And for that you earned this." Carmelita explains, coming to terms with what she saw. That took guts to do what Sly did. His reward is her lips moving closer and closer until they get an infinitesimally small distance away, the sound of guards footsteps rushing to the booth breaks the mood, so close from embrace. Some of them drag the screaming and sobbing Le Paradox back to his cell.

"Ms Fox, you are under arrest for desertion." The lead guard states. Carmelita, Interpol's best agent, deserting them? Well sure she is working with the man she tried to put away for several years but they don't know that. She made sure to tie up loose ends. No one knew the true extent of their relationship at Interpol while they were dating.

"We're here to escort you to a holding cell while your superiors get here." She explains to Carmelita. "Your witness will be escorted out." They grab Sly and Carmelita and they head their separate ways. But this is only the beginning; Sly will not let his girlfriend be trapped in this hole, and no one knows what they might do at Interpol. He waits for the right opportunity and when the guards move around a corner out of sight, he makes his break.


	10. Chapter 9 - Prison break V2

**Maximum Security Prison, Exact Location Classified, Europe. 9:58am 26 July 2013**

The blow struck to the guards by Sly's new cane knocks them out. Their lifeless bodies no longer have a grip on the world's best thief. He takes one of their uniforms to blend in with the other guards. Sly radios back to Bentley to inform him of the bad news.

"Bentley, they've taken Carmelita away, we need a plan." Sly explains quickly to Bentley.

"I'm afraid Sly you have to return to get a plan sorted out. You've faced enough for one week." Bentley replies. He would like to help out but he doesn't want to undertake such a dangerous mission.

"Just get me to Carmelita's cell." Sly replies back, anxious to get his girlfriend back.

"They're going to find the bodies, you have to move now." Bentley instructs. In the end he has to help Sly, Bentley can't control the raccoon he has been with for such a long time. But gets a little more worried as alarms ring out from the prison.

"The prisons in lockdown, you have to get out there now." Bentley urges Sly.

"Not without Carmelita." Sly insists.

"It's too risky, you have to abort." Bentley pleads.

"No prison has held me yet, I don't intend for it to start now." Sly retorts back. It's a true fact that is undisputable. Sly makes his way along the corridors, navigating using the binocucom until he comes across what is Carmelita's cell with 50 guards surrounding it. There is no way he could get past. But wait, he thinks to himself as he turns invisible. He slips pasts the horde of guards protecting their most valuable prisoner.

"I could take all of them down." Sly wonders out loud but quietly to Bentley. He wants get to Carmelita as fast as possible.

"You need to calm down a bit Sly, We're worried about you." Bentley says, concerned for Sly's welfare if he undertook such a feat.

"About what?"

"About your uh, your recent propensity to waste your enemies." Bentley explains.

"In English?" Sly asks

"You need to stop being so aggressive, it's only going to end up with you behind bars." Bentley replies. How convenient to say such a thing when cells are just centimetres away.

"Why don't you just be ready when I'm at the tower?" Sly replies back, anxious to get back to business.

"Okay, but you really need to calm down." Bentley warns again. Sly takes a deep breath, accepting Bentley's advice.

"Affirmative." Sly responds. The guards don't hear a thing; their chatter is loud enough to cover their conversation.

There are no guards in the corridors past this point as they have all gathered around the prisoner, until he reaches the command centre where he turns visible to recharge his focus. The door is locked, no way inside.

"Bentley, you're up." Sly instructs Bentley. Bentley gets his hacking tools out.

"Time a little hack attack." Bentley announces as he disposes of the electronic lock with ease. Sly slips inside and goes invisible.

"Their should be a big red button for the fire alarm, ring that and they will be forced to evacuate." Bentley instructs the ghost in the room. The guards don't see the thief prowling amongst them. They only hear the shrill tone of the alarm where they all leave their posts to get out of the building. Sly goes visible and joins them as they walk out to leave. They can't see a difference, the guards rotate so quickly that new ones crop up all the time.

"Just like in school." Sly says to himself, reminiscing of easier times. Once he gets near Carmelita's cell, he breaks off the pack and reaches the door. Another electronic lock.

"Bentley." Sly says into the radio. Bentley is already on it as the door opens automatically. Carmelita is in a ball in the corner of the cell, expecting another guard going to check her out. It brings back bad memories untouched in decades.

"Carm, you need to get out now." Sly tells her. This raises her spirits and snaps her out of her mood. She resumes her normal persona.

"Yeah, I didn't like being on the opposite side of the cell." She retorts back as she gets up.

"We must go now." Sly hurriedly tells her.

"You only exit is up an air vent." Bentley tells Sly while they make their way around the prison. Sly leads Carmelita to the air vent in question.

"In here." Sly says as he points to the grate that he removes. "It's the only way out." He says. Carmelita is up for anything to be out of here. Sly gets in first to show her how it's done. He scampers up the vertical air vent by bracing himself against its metallic walls and forcing himself up by pushing himself up with his legs. Carmelita follows him up, resisting the urge to look up towards Sly and into his more private areas. She struggles with the movements required to get up but she slowly gets out. Sly meanwhile has busted out the fan at the top to create an opening. He gets out and reaches down with his cane to help Carmelita up. He pulls as hard as he can to get her out until she tastes the freedom of the rooftop.

"The power line is the way out." Bentley instructs.

"Too easy, hold onto me Carm." He says as he turns to Carmelita. He half wants to do this so she has to hug him, but this is business and he concentrates as he nears the edge of the building. A single power line connects the building with the outside world. It's such an oversight on such a heavily secure building. It works to their advantage as they slide down and out of the prison. The officers are waiting at the assembly point on the opposite side of the building. But that's not the problem. Their getaway vehicle is not there.

"Where's the van Murray?" Sly asks into his earpiece, slightly disconcerted that the van is not there to get them out of there quickly.

"Can't you hear it?" Murray replies. They hear the sirens of the fire engines but no loud engine of the van. Sly sees something which both astonishes him and reminds him why they are such good friends.

"Is that?" Sly asks himself as he turns on the binocucom to get a closer look. He sees the van, but it's disguised as a fire engine, with sirens and all. They tail behind the convoy of actual fire trucks and vans. While the other fire crews respond to the false alarm, Murray drives up to where the couple are waiting. Murray winds down the window to show off his new paint job.

"Look Sly, I'm a fire engine." The hippo says. Sly feels joyous on the inside. Only this gang could think of something as outrageous yet insanely effective at the same time. It warms his heart to see such things go off so well with added panache. But feelings aside, they get into the van and Murray drives off at a normal pace until they are outside of their vision, where he stamps on the throttle and they accelerate away. The winding B roads of the countryside allow Murray to test his driving skills, the nitrogen filled tires squirm at every opportunity as he turns in for another hairpin or fast bend. It's just another racetrack for Murray, just on public roads. An endless street circuit. They return to the lab in no time. Any distance is quite close considering the speeds Murray drives at.

**Bentley's Lab, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. 11:46am 26 July 2013.**

Carmelita had taken her unceremonious retrenchment hard. That was her livelihood. Being in law enforcement was her job. Just like being a thief is Sly's way of life. She needed time to relax and so she took a walk around the streets of Amsterdam in hope of some answers. But now the gang needed answers of their own. Penelope's location, her motives and her new found abilities where all a mystery to them. Sly goes through the Thievius Raccoonus to make sure that no one didn't steal anything. He's had to go after more times than he needs to and no one knows what she's been doing during their little detour. Sly has also done something, which, to him, is a big step. He has put his family cane away for Bentley to keep safely with the Thievius Raccoonus. He has had that cane since his father's death. He could think of no one better to look after it. In it's place his new carbon cane. He has grown a liking to it's lightness which helps him swing it faster and harder and lift things out of peoples pockets more subtly than before, giving him much more control. But Bentley interrupts this reminiscing.

"We have to go back." Bentley announces.

"I'm not seeing Le Paradox again." Sly immediately rebuts.

"He's the key, don't you see." Bentley explains.

"I guess." Sly utters.

"Here." Bentley says as he shows the prison guard outfit. "You might want to get comfortable in this."

"Are you sure about this?" Sly asks.

"I'll do it." Murray states. Eager to try out the uniform.

"Since your little escape, they need to hire more guards. Luckily for us, it's the perfect way inside." Bentley explains. Reluctantly, Sly agrees and tries on the guard uniform again.

"This outfit already make me look more innocent." Sly jokes.

"Okay, I made you an identity card for the prison, along with the prison guard outfit; it should get you through the checkpoints into and out of the prison. You need to get to Le Paradoxes cell and get the information from him. Your cane will fit perfectly with your disguise as a truncheon; it won't attract anyone's attention. Use these syringes to help him… let's say, tell you what you want." Bentley explains while he prepares the syringes with their liquid.

"It would have been easier if I had one of these before." Sly says.

"This serum has a unique chemical composition that involuntarily shakes his tail if he is lying." Bentley explains in excitement of his new creation.

"But what if he doesn't even say anything?" Sly asks. Le Paradox may be a bit of a talker but it's a weakness that Sly picks up.

"The compound is more effective than too much alcohol at a bar. No one will be able to control their words; he will speak before he thinks. Just don't get yourself pricked." Bentley warns.

"I'll try not to." Sly promises as he collects a handful of them, which he puts into his thigh pocket. The gang are ready to go, but one thing is missing. The vixen has not returned from her little walk outside. Sly is worried sick but knows that the show must go on. Focusing on the mission will help block the worry and anxiety that he feels. Dimitri doesn't get into the van either; he stays to protect the two valuable Cooper items. To do this, he turns up the volume and gets ready to boogie down. The gang can see him grooving as the van is raised to street level. The iguana has no self-consciousness, just does what he loves in front of everyone, regardless of their preferences.


	11. Chapter 10 - Role Reversal

**Maximum Security Prison, Exact Location Classified. 2:01pm 26 July 2013**

They stop on the way to get new coat of paint, switching from the fire truck to a police van. This will make Sly's back-story more convincing. He is meant to be a guard who has been transferred from another prison in order to help fulfil the shortfall of guards at 'The Chasm'.

"Go time." Bentley announces as they pull up to the entrance. Sly gets out of the back, ready to be on the other side of the jail cell.

"You're the new guy right?" The checkpoint guard asks.

"Yes I just got assigned here." Sly replies back.

"Well just scan your ID card here and I can give you the tour." He states. Sly grabs his card out and scans it in the scanner. It turns green. No trouble this time.

"Thank you… Geoff Cooper." He states.

"No problem." Sly replies. "What's your name?" Sly asks his superior.

"Hank." He replies. Sly thinks to himself why Bentley chose Geoff, but then again. He wasn't that good at naming his gadgets. Hank checks his watch in anticipation for something.

"Your just in time, you see, one of our inmates is a rapper. And every day at 2pm we hear it over the loudspeaker, his lines are amazing." The brown pug says in awe of this inmates rapping.

"Who is this…?" Sly starts to ask but the loudspeaker tells him who it is.

"Yo! Yo! Yo! It's the Grizz, going to play down for you a fresh new rhyme, one line at a time." The grizzly bear rings out from the speaker. A pang of dread goes through Sly. Hearing his rapping is like nails on a chalkboard.

"Check this out!" Hank says as he walks Sly over to their first destination.

"Gerry, get that beat going." Grizz shouts across his cell for another criminal in another cell to beat box. A rapping beat is heard and after a 16 beat intro it begins.

"I'm all in a funk because the place has just stunk

from a skunk, screaming in his own bunk.

He shouted, he screamed, he sobbed and he seemed

Like he's going to break down, for the time being."

"This here is the guards room, you get a locker once we clear the last guy out. He died on the job yesterday from a prison attack." Hank explains.

"He's nefarious, emotionally precarious.

But now he is crying in a way that is truly hilarious.

And when you're down like that

You need the moves of a cat

To get out of that state of mind and find your way back home."

"This is the recreation area, the 'normal' inmates only get an hour a day so we like to use it for ourselves most of the time. Solitary guys get nothing." Hank explains.

"It's known, that when down in the dumps

There will be many humps and bumps

That shake you around and around

Until you've found what you need to see."

"This is the cafeteria, we serve the finest quality prison food in all of Europe. Ha, couldn't keep a straight face." Hank giggles.

"To be, what you want and need

Stuck in here? No way! That's gonna feed

The need to make others bleed

So heed this message, before you cut me out.

If you agree with me, can I get a shout?"

Loud cheers come from the cells as the new guard walks along the rows of inmates.

"These are all the low level inmates. You've got serial killers, paedophiles, and rapists here. Those kinds of low level stuff." Hank explains to Sly, whether he believes these are low-key offenses or is just being sarcastic is a mystery for Sly.

"Only the very top guards, like myself, can enter the solitary area for criminals so bad their crimes are indescribable." Hank explains. "Okay, you're here for today, rec time starts in 1 minute. You good?"

"I'm good." Sly replies. The other guard walks into the solitary area twirling his own truncheon. Sly gets out his own.

"Opening doors." A computer voice says in a monotone and the cell doors open. Sly sees the faces of his counterpart criminals. All of them seem angry on the outside, venting their frustration at being here, either because they were caught or just can't wait for the day of release, which for most of them is non-existent. Most of them will die in their cells with only a cement wall for company. The prisoners all shuffle out with heads hung low, Sly doesn't have clue what to do, so he follows the guard in front of him, shepherding the prisoner to the rec area. But one of them has had enough, he besets on the guard. The brute strength of this prisoner overwhelms the guard. Sly jumps in to help out, giving a smackdown with his cane until the prisoner is limp.

"Whoa, you saved my life!" the guard thanks this new guard.

"I get that a lot." Sly replies.

"Whoa, your truncheon is awesome!"

"They have these back at my old prison." Sly explains. Bentley overheads all of the conversation and has done some background work.

"Okay Sly, if you manage to control 4 other prisoners before the hour is over, they usually promote you to the solitary area, where you need to be." Bentley clarifies.

"Couldn't be easier." Sly replies, confident he can complete the task and sure enough after 10 minutes he gives the smackdown on 4 other criminals. For someone who would see this guard and think that he is weak. He certainly isn't. He can develop power quickly and deliver it through multiple blows of his cane. It's the strength part that Sly doesn't excel at. As he finishes the 5th prisoner, Hank comes rushing out to the yard.

"Geoff, you better get your ass in here because that was the best display of prisoner control I have ever seen." Hank says in awe of his new guard. Sly is silent as he walks with Hank to the solitary area. The huge metre thick door opens to the swipe of a card and he gets his first glimpse of the inside. The hallway is clean and the doors are impenetrable, especially the glass window which signifies Le Paradoxes cell which was specially modified to be hermetically sealed to keep the stink in. They are about to walk down the hallway to inspect the prisoners but a loud alarm rings out.

"Oh boy, it's a new prisoner." Hank squeals in excitement. A crackle comes from his walkie-talkie.

"It's a high value prisoner, goes in solitary now." The warden instructs over the radio.

"You hear that? This the best part of the job new kid." Hank explains in happiness as they rush to the entrance again, so close to getting to Le Paradox. A prison truck has come to deliver the new prisoner. What they see is a prisoner who is bagged and gagged. Unable to talk, see or be seen. The prisoners entire body is covered, even the tail.

"The new prisoner goes in Solitary now, and since it is a new prisoner, the new boy can do it. He's been quick to ascend the ladder." The warden says as he heaps praise on this new guard. Sly walks up to the prisoner and escorts the prisoner to the cell in solitary. Sly, having finished with the task, feels a little pleased with himself. Having locked up another criminal who got caught. It's like natural selection for criminals at work, weeding the poor ones out from the best. Two other guards remove the various restraining devices from the new prisoner as Sly walks away.

"You cowards, is this how you treat a woman?" A loud shout rings from the cell, Carmelita's voice. Sly feels like he has a heart attack as the immense impact of a proverbial freight train comes running over the top of Sly. He falls to the ground and faints, knowing that he has just locked up his own girlfriend into prison.

**Prison Parking lot, 2:19pm 26 July 2013**

Bentley is frantically searching for Sly, he hasn't responded for a minute. Murray is also glued to the screen which Bentley types furiously at, hoping his buddy is okay. Bentley finally manages to finish what he was doing, trying to upload the security camera feed. This was a much harder hack than usual but nevertheless he is in. It doesn't take long for them to find Sly. He's in the medical bay, not moving. A single doctor is moving around him, doing tests. The sound recorder on the camera reveals that Sly is okay but he has fainted. From what? Sly isn't scared of anything, Bentley thinks to himself.

**Medical bay, 2:20pm 26 July 2013**

But the thief who has fainted is now waking up, he opens his eyes to see a doctor recording something on a clipboard, but it's what he can hear that's drowning him out. The shouts and jeers from what sound like all the guards in the prison. All of them have crowded up against the door to see the racoon that fainted for putting away a girl.

"Geoff." The doctor asks Sly. It takes a second for Sly to remember that he is not Sly but Geoff.

"Yeah?" Sly says, still dazed from the fall.

"The good news is that you're okay." She explains. "The better news is that they want to see you."

Sly gets of the bed and walks slowly to the door, the shouts build up, anticipating his entrance. Sly opens he door and the crowd erupts in a sea of noise. But the sea parts for Sly, creating a walk of shame. Sly walks slowly, knowing that it's his only way out. He hears the verbal abuse of all types. He gets pushes around between both sides of the guards as they get more unruly. Sly has now had enough of it. He stops and turns. He is going to stand up for Carmelita.

"Stop it now!" He shouts to the guards who just burst out laughing.

"You think that's funny?!" Sly shouts again, the guard continue to laugh but the rage in Sly has grown to boiling point.

"That's it!" He shouts as he swings his cane at the nearest guard, knocking him out. The crowd goes silent and they start to back off as Sly swings the cane around him to create space for himself. They pay attention now to what he has to say.

"If you knew what it's like for me now," Sly shouts in desperation. He pauses for some heavy breathing, his fury growing further."Then you wouldn't feel so happy with yourselves."

The guards are silent, unable to react to what they have heard.

"Now you guys should back off, and go back to your posts or this with get messy very quickly." Sly gives his ultimatum. He looks like he means business. But standing at the back is Hank who is having none of it.

"Give it up now Cooper, you can't take on everyone." Hank warns like he knows it's not possible. There are 83 guards between Sly and Hank. He doesn't think this new guard has a chance.

"Watch." Sly announces as he begins his attack. What follows next is as poetic as it is violent. Every swing of the cane is like another paintbrush stroke on the canvas that's the guards opposing him. He disposes of them all in a way that is not only effective but looks beautiful. The cameras are rolling. His anger only accentuates the passion that flows through Sly. His love for Carmelita is stronger than a barrier of almost 100 prison guards. Hank is now blubbering on the ground unable to face the unfathomable reality that has beset upon his eyes.

"No, no, no, no." Hank quickly begs for mercy as the raccoon stands over him.

"I thought you'd be better than this." Sly says, disappointed at Hank.

"Wh - who are you?" Hank stammers to Sly, his teeth chattering violently. Sly changes back into his normal thieving outfit. The look on Hank's face as look of surprise, anger and horror all rolled into one.

"The name's Sly, Sly Cooper." Sly confidently states.

"No! It can't be." Hank says in disbelief, 'how could he not pick out the master thief Sly Cooper?' he thinks to himself. But he doesn't get that far as Sly has already finished him off with silent obliteration.

"Yes it can." Sly says, completing the sentence as he finishes whirling around Hank's now disappeared body. But during the takedown, he has taken his card, giving him access all areas.

Sly walks slowly in the now silent prison and casually opens the huge metal door and walks to Carmelita's cell. The same card manages to open the cell door.

"What is it now?!" Carmelita shouts at the wall, not facing the raccoon standing outside.

"I'm sorry." Sly apologetically states, no words could rectify the situation he has caused.

"Sly? What are you doing here? How did you get in?" Carmelita asks, she knows nothing of the plan that has just gone totally wrong.

"I put you in here." Sly succinctly explains, still his head hung low at the inadequacy he feels about what he has done to her.

"You were handling me when I couldn't see?" Carmelita asks, slightly angry at it. But she has fewer emotions about it than Sly.

"Yeah, I see why I like being on the other side of the law." Sly jokes as he tries to see the funny side of it.

"Just get me out of here." Carmelita states, Sly reaches out with his cane and he lifts her up. Carmelita starts to run frantically for the exit but Sly is walking slowly like he's just on the street. She realises that Sly is not running so she stops and turns.

"You going to hurry up?" She asks, anxious to get out.

"We don't need to." Sly replies calmly back. This confuses Carmelita.

"Why?" Carmelita asks.

"Take a look." Sly replies back. Carmelita walks on and sees the hallway full of unconscious bodies like a tornado has been through the centre of them. Bodies strewn across the floor, some stacked up high whilst others are just contorted into positions no live person could achieve.

"What did you do?" Asks Carmelita with a slight hint of anger.

"They had it coming." Sly replies back, rationalising the situation.

"What did you do to them?" She asks again, her anger rising.

"They're not dead, just unconscious." Sly tries to explain.

"What difference does it make? I don't want to be associated with a murderer. I thought you might have changed after seeing Le Paradox but this…" Carmelita says with full anger.

"I did that to save you." Sly shouts back, trying to explain what happened.

"That's it ringtail. I'm not going with you again." Carmelita says at the peak of her fury. Those words shock Sly.

"But…" Sly starts in desperation to save their relationship.

"It's Ms Fox now. And you are coming with me." She says as she reverses the roles to the way it was. She now is attempting to fulfil a promise made more than 10 years ago, to put Sly away._ "_You're lucky I don't have my shock pistol here." She says to him as she walks him out. Sly thinks about breaking away from her. But he loves her too much to damage that perfect fur coat or hurt those hazel brown eyes.

But there has been another observer; Bentley has seen it all on the security cameras. He too is shocked about what has happened. But he knows their relationship is about to fracture and he needs to show her the truth. He points to the entrance and Murray drives there. Carmelita comes out and sees the police van already pulling up.

"Carmelita: Looks like you're going to see my friends early." She taunts to Sly. The side door opens to reveal Bentley ready to jump out at them.

"Carmelita, don't do this." Bentley warns.

"Get away from me!" She shouts, turning Sly away from Bentley.

"I saw the whole thing. Sly would never do something like that unprovoked." Bentley explains, desperate to keep this outburst contained.

"That doesn't make it any more innocent." She argues back.

"If you look at this and you still want to take him away, then fine, otherwise we won't let him go so easily." Bentley goes all-in in order to save his friend.

"You would still come after me even if I took him away." She argues back again. But their conversation is cut short as alarms ring out from the prison. Someone must have gotten their consciousness back to ring the alarms.

"You don't have a choice now. Who are they going to believe? The guard or the prisoner?" Bentley says knowing that she has no choice but to go with them. She realises this as well after trying to find a reason not to. She reluctantly goes in with the van and they drive off. Bentley gets out the security camera feed on his screen.

"The security feed from the prison shows everything." He states. Carmelita looks at the screen, casually at first but then looks more intently as the actions roll on by. Carmelita watches the tapes with sound. She sees what happened with Sly after he realised what he did, a tiny gasp is heard but she covers it up. She then sees his unceremonious walk of shame, a tear rolls down her face but Sly doesn't see it. She then sees him single handedly take out the 83 guards. She sees him change out of his disguise and into his outfit and stand over the guard.

"The name's Sly, Sly Cooper." Sly says on tape.

"No, it can't be." Hank replies. She sees Sly take him out.

"Yes it can." Sly says on the radio, but behind her, Sly mouths those three words.

The tapes roll on to Sly getting Carmelita out of prison but they don't need to watch that. Carmelita is trying to stop her feelings for Sly being shown but it is inevitable. The way he stood up for her against an unruly mob, that he deeply cares for her, is one that brings Carmelita to silent tears. She leans on Sly in the back, Sly is only too happy to give her comfort but in a sensitive and gentle way but trying to be cautious after what happened just before. The others in the van try to hide their emotions in this delicate time but inside they know their love for each other is only getting stronger. Murray continues to drive onto the lab.


	12. Chapter 11 - Just Plane Wrong

**Bentley's Lab, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. 10:25pm 26 July 2013**

Looking back on this day, they've gotten out of prison twice and still they got no useful information from Le Paradox. To them it's not a total failure. They are still alive and not in prison. But it just means they need to try again. Bentley is still hard at work on the computer, utilising all the CPU's overclocked cores to do calculations on possible locations for Penelope and motives. Still nothing turns up, calculations are done, and no answers are given. Bentley hasn't seen Sly or Carmelita recently, nor Dimitri. It's just him and Murray in the main area. Murray is respraying the van back to it's former glory with it's blue paint and flames, he's also working on the engine, trying to get every last ounce of power out of it. The twin turbo 4 litre V8 in the front gives it plenty of power. It's the same one he's used in his former racing days, it's been reliable and powerful ever since he lowered into the engine bay. Of course, no technology is immune to Bentley's genius. The gearbox is at the back for better weight distribution, the brakes are carbon ceramic, the panels are carbon fibre, these were all things that Bentley helped Murray out with to get him on the racetrack and compete with multi million dollar machines purpose built to race. Quite simply, it is no normal van.

Bentley has also deleted the security camera videos from the prison so that no one can prove what happened there. There is no evidence for them to use against Sly. Since eyewitness testimony is relied on less and less by judges, the guards testimonies could be easily wiped away by any lawyer. Sly still hasn't reappeared yet from the room he went inside over 2 hours ago. Bentley looks over to the room, there is no noise coming from the inside, that would be because it's sound proof. He continues to search when an anonymous tip off comes from ThiefNet. It seems Le Paradox is going to be moved to an even secure prison purpose built for Le Paradox. The end location is unknown, but this is the last chance that they have to get any information from him. Bentley quickly goes and knocks on the door. He waits what seems like an age but Sly walks out like nothing was going on in there.

"Sly, what took you so long?" Bentley asks.

"I was just relaxing." Sly says casually, almost too well rehearsed.

"Come on, we going to get Le Paradox." Bentley says. Bentley knows that there must have been something going on between the two of them in there. Sly tags along and Carmelita comes out frantically, still getting dressed. Sly must have been hitting it off in there.

"They're going to transfer Le Paradox to an extra secure prison designed just for him. We only have this opportunity left to get any information. Here what I have planned. There is a section of road where the prison truck carrying him won't be in radio contact with the base. It's a weak spot that we shall attack. Murray, your job is to drive the van up as close as possible so that Sly can jump onto the top and get inside. He will quickly get the information from him and get back before they even know what hit them." Bentley explains.

"And after that, pizza for everyone!" Murray exclaims.

"More like just you." Sly corrects.

"That's what I mean." Murray explains.

With that said, the gang head out into the night in search of a skunk.

**Deserted road, The Netherlands. 11:12pm 26 July 2013**

The side road they have pulled into is where they wait for the solitary truck that holds Le Paradox. Murray is eager to go, his right foot has been covering the accelerator for the past 5 minutes. The rest of them have their binocucoms out, Sly being on the roof, ready to make the jump across. In the distance, the night vision picks up the headlights of the truck going at a fast pace, much faster than anticipated. But Murray is prepared for any speed, He rolls it back down the incline on the road so that the truck doesn't see them as they pass. Then he drops into first and accelerates out and speeds up to chase the van. He makes up the distance in no time while Sly steadies for the jump, which he makes easily. He signals to Bentley in the passenger seat to say that he's made it and they back off slightly from the van. Sly busts open the roof hatch and sees Le paradox all sad and curled up into a ball. Sly enters the compartment, Le Paradox having not reacted at all. Sly gets out one of the syringes and pierces the skin of Le Paradox, a loud scream briefly rings out before Sly covers his mouth.

"Where's Penelope?" Sly asks forcefully. The skunk has no answer, he truly doesn't know anything.

"Why are you here?" Sly asks again while shaking the almost lifeless Le Paradox.

"Sly, I'm not here because I want to be. You ruined me, now I have to do the honourable thing for me and my family." Le Paradox says almost regretfully, with no anger towards Sly, he is disappointed with himself. "We are no different, you and I. We do the same thing, we take and take and take. I'd like to look back on what I've done think I've accomplished something. But what now I see is failure, yes, I admit it, I'm a failure! Just like all of my ancestors before me." Le Paradox says, confronting his own failings. It is powerful what he says and Sly is taken back by it. He never expected someone so vile towards him to say such things.

"You are just, better. What other word is there to say?" The skunk states to Sly. Sly is captivated by what he has just heard. Is that the serum working too well? But Bentley's quick shouting on the earpiece pulls Sly out of the moment.

"Get out of there now!" Bentley screams into the radio. Sly gets out as fast as he can as he leaps out of the escape hatch, leaving Le Paradox behind. Sly sees the van catching up from behind and Sly leaps as far as he can but it's not enough so he deploys his parachute, this catapults him into the front windshield of the van. Which means Sly can't see the huge explosion that happens behind him. He hears it all right. The sound is powerful enough to vibrate the windscreen which Sly's face is pressed against. Sly reaches around to get in via the window and sees the obliterated wreckage or what's left of it in front of him. There's no way Le Paradox could have survived that.

"What was that?" Sly asks Bentley.

"An airplane with guns." Bentley succinctly explains.

"Murray get us out of here!" Carmelita shouts.

"On it." Murray replies as his right foot reaches the floor. The sound of those turbos whistling increases in volume as the revs rising echoes in the night as he passes whats left of the flaming wreck on the side of the road. Bentley tries to hack into the plane systems to see whose inside but he suspects it might be who they are looking for. More shots ring out from the plane as they see the night sky illuminated by the flaming tails of the shots. Murray is speeding up to 250km/h where he changes gear and still, he is speeding up. The shots keep missing for some reason; it must be Murray's good driving. Bentley manages to hack into the planes sound system where he hears their conversations.

"We got no more ammo." An Australian accent.

"Ze boss won't be happy." A German accent rings out.

"No, please don't do this." The Australian pleas.

"You know ze rules." The German states.

After that, only the screams are heard as someone falls out of the plane.

"We need a new gunner boss." The German says. Bentley cuts the connection off otherwise they will know he has hacked into the plane.

"Maybe he can help us." Bentley asks the gang.

"Do you know if he will survive?" Sly states the obvious question. Bentley gets out the binocucom into the night sky.

"Judging from the trajectory of those shots, and factoring wind speed, relative humidity and so on. He must be there." Bentley says as he finds what he is looking for. He sees a parachute deploy.

"He has a parachute." He announces to the gang, still looking into the binocucom.

"He could be dangerous for us." Carmelita says.

"It's the best hope we have." Bentley says as he tracks the falling gunner through the night, directing Murray where to go. Murray drives erratically as he tries to get into the perfect spot. Eventually, the gunner lands on a side road, which Murray drives into, the headlights illuminate what he is. A wallaby, slightly taller than Bentley when he's in the wheelchair. The black tight shirt on his back is torn to reveal the tan fur underneath and the tight dark blue jeans he wears are just as torn. His feet are covered by overly large black sneakers, which fit around his overly large feet. He lies on his side, the pain from hitting the hard bitumen hurts, but not as much as the bright lights that sting his eyes every time he tries to get a look at who is watching him.

"I'll deal with this." He hears faintly in the distance as what looks like a cop walks slowly towards him. He's fearing that this is the end, he's going to jail.

"Don't move a muscle!" She shouts at him, fearing the handcuffs are coming next.

"Don't hurt me." He says, really scared about what may happen next.

"What's you're name?" She says.

"Joey." he manages to say before hyperventilating.

"You're coming with me." She says as she picks him up as Joey gets to his feet and she leads him on, but Joey breaks from the character he has put towards this cop. He's only doing that to create a different image of who he is. He lags behind slightly and immediately takes something out of her back pocket. It's a photo of her and…

He can't believe it. The excitement grows inside but on the outside he is as controlled as he was before. Joey places the photo back where he found it before he is lead into the van.

"Who are these guys?" He asks. He knows exactly who these guys are, inside and out.

"You'll find out later." Carmelita says as she gets in the van.

"Do you know the guru?" Murray blurts out to their guest.

"The whoru?" He replies. He doesn't know who the guru is.

"The guru, surely you've heard of him." Murray asks again. He thinks because he's Australian he must know the guru. Australia isn't all desert and dreamtime. He should know, he's been there himself.

"Sorry, I've never heard of him. I'm not from the bush." Joey explains to him.

"Then where are you from?" Murray asks.

"Melbourne." He replies. This gets the Bentley and Sly's attention; Murray's not so much.

"That's a long way from home." Carmelita says with suspicion.

"Hey, what's going on here?" Joey shouts, becoming sceptical about the situation around him. That he's being set up. "I know when something's up. I'm not deaf." He says getting on the offensive.

"It's just that we've never heard of such a place before. In Australia? I thought it's just bush all the way around." Bentley says as he tries to cover up the situation. He does a poor job as Joey immediately picks him out.

"Don't try that stuff on me, you look like a smart guy yourself in that pimped up wheelchair of yours." Joey says as he looks over the seat to see the chair. "What you got there, hmm, boosters, retractable arms, bomb case. Gee what's going on with you? You ready for world war 3 or something?"

"Are you going to tell us what you did on that plane?" The raccoon asks him. All of the wallabies brain power goes into trying to remain in his persona but it is useless. The relief that after all of these years he has managed to find this elusive raccoon they call Sly Cooper is too much. His face changes from the calm and collected to something that resembles glee, happiness, relief and joy all at the same time.

"You're Sly Cooper?" He asks himself in disbelief. "I believe you've seen me before." Joey states as he pulls out a tattered and faded calling card from his pocket. It's been with him for many years. Everyone is shocked that he knows his name, even more that he has been a victim of his thieving ways. This could be bad.

"No I haven't." Sly replies, hoping that no retribution could come from this theft.

"I've had this ever since I cracked open that gangsters safe…" Joey starts, going into his own world. Sly picks up the key words that tell him this might not be another victim. He might be the opposite.

"You mean…?" Sly asks but Joey cuts him off.

"That's right, I'm not some henchmen, lackey like some of those others on the plane. I'm the greatest thief down under."

"Is that so?" Sly asks their knew guest.

"That's right, there's so much gold and diamonds in my place I don't know what to do with them." Joey replies, the thrill of meeting Sly is still evident in his voice.

"Where did you get them?" Sly asks, thinking of all the places he himself might acquire such a fortune.

"There are illegal mining operations everywhere. I like to take a cut from their earnings if you know what I mean." Joey explains like it's some best-kept secret of his. Sly on the inside is impressed at his master thief traits, hopefully for Sly this will be friendly competition rather than becoming adversaries. But Sly has remembered something, he puts the pieces together, this diminutive wallaby was kicked out because he missed so much. Therefore…

"Were you the one try to shoot us?" Sly asks.

"Look, I didn't know it was you. They all used code words up there, on the display, I only see a white blob. I was forced to do it okay, that's what they told us to do and, you know, I value my life." Joey says as he tries to explain his actions whilst coming to terms that he almost killed Sly Cooper without knowing it. "You were 'the raccoon', the hippo was 'the hippo', this charming girl here was 'the fox'. And the turtle…

"Let me guess, the turtle?" Bentley answers.

"No you were actually something far more vile then that."

"Typical Penelope." Bentley utters.

"Who is Penelope?" Joey asks.

"Did you ever see a pink mouse flying the plane?" Bentley asks, trying to get to the bottom of the situation quickly.

"No, we never saw the boss at all you see. Was she the boss?" Joey asks like he knows nothing about the operation he was participating in, although not willingly. Bentley's slow nodding confirms this. "And all this time I was being controlled by a girl, no offense there… uh what's you're name?"

"Carmelita." Carmelita says, nothing taking much offense to what he said.

"Interesting name, you Mexican? Cause you are a bit far from home as well." Joey asks. He doesn't know what he's getting into here. He knows nothing of the short-tempered Carmelita Montoya Fox.

"I live here you know." She says, trying to dispel any talk about her heritage.

"Something tells me you had an experience when you were a wee kid. That's why you work for the police, no, more like uh, MI6 or Interpol or something like that, you were too motivated to work for the police. But then why are you working for the greatest thief in the world? Of course, you are willing to try your hand at the most dangerous game of love, I see." Joey says as he figures it all out. There seems to be nothing to hide from him, he just figures everything out too quickly.

"It's a long story." She replies back.

"I see, well where are we headed to now." Joey asks as he takes control of the conversation after only being there for 4 minutes.

"We are going to back to my lab to figure out a plan." Bentley replies.

"You have a lab? No wonder you have such gadgets." Joey replies.

"Look, I don't work alone you know, everyone thief needs a gang." Sly asserts to his fellow thief.

"Not this one, I've worked alone for years, I don't trust anyone, not even you guys. This is a valuable lesson for you lot brought to you by Joey." He explains like he's doing a community service announcement. Sly is getting annoyed with his constant chatter, he wants him to be quiet. He wants to get some rest for the next day. He's been through a lot. A rollercoaster of emotions that has seen him go from ecstatic jubilation to complete sorrow and sadness.

"Can we sedate him or something? He's getting on my nerves." Sly quietly asks Bentley. Bentley hands over another needle with a different mixture in it.

"Just give him one of these." Bentley whispers to Sly. Sly turns around to face the wallaby who is doing his head in.

"So Joey, I'll take on board your 'valuable lesson', but now you have to be sedated so you don't know the location of our lab." Sly states like he is holding all the cards.

"I know your trying to bend this but ok." Joey replies back. He takes the needle from the raccoon and injects himself with the liquid that makes him fall asleep after 10 seconds. He lies on the floor, rolling around whenever Murray makes a turn with the van.


	13. Chapter 12 - Life's Little Pleasures

**Bentley's Lab, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. 12:04am, 27 July 2013**

The late night darkness of the lab is re-illuminated by the overhanging LED lights in the roof. They are motion activated and they have turned on now due the gang's arrival. Bentley is already back to work, trying to find out the history of their new recruit. The turtle seems to work like a machine sometimes, while he may work with machines and needs one to move around. He still is flesh and bone, the only organic part of his operation. Bentley uncovers Joey's file, which is extensive. Coming from a troubled household, Joey grew up on the streets, never liking his parents as they beat him almost daily. Stealing wasn't his first job; he was employed as a runner for one of the crime gangs, where he made his way across the city delivering packages to various places, above the city of course. He was swapped over in a deal between two gangs in exchange for money where the deal didn't go so well. As a result, his new gang didn't treat him kindly, like his parents they beat him daily, even if he completed his jobs. This is where his stealing came in. It started as a little here and there from his employers as revenge for what they did, but once he got the taste, he was hooked.

His first big heist was a drug shipment worth millions. It crippled the gang so badly they had to disband. After that, his exploits got the attention of the cops. To combat this he studied law, and has successfully defended himself in court no less than 8 times. No one could ever put any evidence to him. He became a jack-of-all-trades in the thieving world, making his own equipment and being his own getaway driver. This made him almost impossible to catch. And when he wasn't thieving, he was clubbing. He has been to every club at least 3 times and knows every owner personally. He uses them to hide out in the city, moving house so quickly means that no one could have the time plant a bug. It seems like their new ally might come in handy for the time being, having been on Penelope's new plane. Once the effects of the syringe wore off, Joey began to tell his story.

Their new friend told us everything about what he saw when woke up again. He said that he was out going to steal one a bag of illegal diamonds that was being moved from banks in the city. Only to his surprise that instead of diamonds, there was only a calling card, Penelope's to be precise. He was dumbfounded, he didn't know of this new thief so he just kept going at it. But failed heist after failed heist, he realised that this new thief was doing it to annoy him. He tracked down this new thief and broke into their place, only to be met with a net and as many zip ties around him as someone could possibly fit on him.

He was taken to their base where he was forced to tell his secret techniques to his captors. They tortured him for days on end, using a combination of drugs that gave him extreme pain then removed it after 15 minutes so he could have a chance to talk. It was repeated so many times, he lost count. Finally he gave in. He wrote them down on a sheet of paper and gave it to what he said was the co-pilot. He said that he had a heavy German accent and was obsessed with flying. He only ever heard his voice and never saw him in person.

After this they showed him the plane. A cargo plane that was converted into a fortress in the air. It was painted stealth black on the outside. But he said that it could turn invisible to thermal by pumping liquid nitrogen with the exhaust, which made the exhaust the same temperature as the air. Bentley was so intrigued by this. He wanted to ask more questions. But Joey continued rambling on. He said that there were other thieves on board. Others from all parts of the globe. He assumed that they wanted the same thing from them, to learn their techniques. They were forced to work on the plane as to not reveal this plan to anyone.

The gang were exhausted enough as they were, but now it was certain that a few eyelids were edging closer to the bottom, closing the eyes and releasing the melatonin that makes them want to sleep. But there was one thing missing from this picture. Where was Dimtiri?

**Amsterdam, The Netherlands. 1:17am 27 July 2013**

It has passed over into the next day as Sly and his new thieving partner Joey go out in search of the iguana, he could be anywhere in this city. Sly is more interested to see how Joeys claims of being a master thief hold up. There is no doubt about his climbing skills, especially his jumping, leaping over huge gaps with ease while Sly must take the long route, walking on wires and spire jumping on points. They went to check the clubbing areas, no sign of him there. They went to check the 'coffee shops' no sign of him there. But it is around in the back alley beside one of the 'coffee shops' where Dimitri is finally found. They peer down into the alley from the roof to see the confrontation below. A couple of thugs have gone to Dimitri and they look like they've got a beef with him.

"Where's the money?!" One of them shouts at the obviously high Dimitri. Dimitri doesn't react, he is too baked to care.

"You didn't pay yesterday, so now it is double the price." The other shouts.

"I, I, I see." Dimitri stammers as he is forced into the wall by the thugs.

"You give us the money or we get you!" One of them shouts as he prepares his fist.

"Okay, here's the money, but don't touch my grass." Dimitri says as he gives in, forking out a wad of cash from his inside pocket. The thugs start to walk away as they count their profits, Joey tries to leap down to get the cash back but Sly restrains him. This is what separates the thieves for their master counter parts. While the thugs are criminals, it is not honourable to steal from something that they don't deserve to be stolen from. This drug habit of Dimitri's needs to be at least controlled. He could fast become a liability to the gang if they don't get him under control. They let the thugs walk off. Once they are out of sight they jump down to Dimitri, who is still slouched against the wall. Joey take a look at his cane, he hasn't really noticed its existence because it's different to what he thinks it looks like.

"I've always heard about your cane, but this one looks different." Joey says.

"It's new." Sly says, concentrating on the mission. Joey wants to touch it but it is a sacred object to him. He keeps his hands off it but sees what it is.

"A light carbon fibre construction, you must really trust your turtle friend." He says.

"Bentley, I've been with him since I was child, same with Murray. We grew up together." Sly replies back. Just hearing this information makes Joey rethink the meaning of trust.

"They're like family to you." He says.

"As close as I have now." Sly says as he jumps down into the alley to confront Dimitri and his little problem.

"Dimitri, what are you doing here?" Sly asks.

"Sly? I got my boogie down tonight." Dimitri says back, he gives a little laugh at what he's done tonight. He thinks he's had a good time but at the same time he knows what they are here to do.

"I'll handle this one." Joey says as he holds Sly back. He's been to enough clubs to know how crazed disco junkies react and speak.

"Who's this guy? I'm not seeing things again." Dimitri says as Joey walks up to him and stands still in front of him, cutting the atmosphere to a still silence, he then goes and puts an arm around him. He then whispers something inaudible into his ear and walks away from him with his hands around his back. Dimitri, to Sly's amazement, get's up and follows him. Joey just walks straight past him and keep walks back along the street. Sly tries to catch up and turns around only to see how he has done it. The green leaves in his hand, he's taken them out of Dimitri's jacket and is using them to move Dimitri around. Sly runs up and walks next to Joey.

"How do you know this will work?" Sly asks, Joey concentrating on keeping the right distance from Dimitri.

"Some people have things which act like a magnet to them, for druggies, its drugs. For you it would be that cane of yours." Joey explains.

"And for you?" Sly asks.

"I don't have anything like that." Joey casually says. Sly is puzzled by his apparent contradiction but he lets it slide. They walk the street back to the lab where Dimitri is still following them. Sly now notices that Joey has ditched the weed on the way back somewhere, he didn't notice it at all. He was busy looking at his surroundings, the starry sky, the street lamps, and the late night people walking the streets. These are small pleasures, which Sly has never really contemplated before. He has never really sat back and thought of all of these small things around him. But this tiny pleasure that it has brought him is shattered by the darkness of the shoe shop entrance, but he is in a mood to search for the little things. As joey takes down Dimitri to the lab below, Sly wonders about the shop, whether it is actually a shop. He starts by going through some shoeboxes and finds many different pairs of shoes from high heels to loafers. But as he reaches into another box, he sees something that shocks him. It is some of Penelope's goods, letters, various diagrams of machinery, but it is not this that takes him by surprise, it's a USB drive with the words 'the proof' on it. The shop has a small desktop computer at a desk with a cash register on it. Sly boots it up, the slowness almost kills him, as it's not like Bentley's other computers, which are lighting fast. Finally is boots up and Sly plugs in the drive.

Sly is not inept at computers, he is quite capable with them, being able to operate them competently. His dad had tried to rid the house of computers but in his room where he did his thieving reconnaissance he had a setup that would rival anyone. Before Connor was murdered, Sly used to sneak into this room and play around with it when his dad wasn't looking. Sly could have easily ended up like his father, being a science and computer genius thief. Kind of like Bentley except with the thieving abilities of Sly. It was like he didn't want Sly to follow in his path. It's one of the reasons why Sly grew up on a farm. Being isolated of technology made him focus more on the basics like pickpocketing and wall shifting along edges. It also gave Connor another reason to care for Sly, to help him focus as well on the job of raising a son to become the next in the Cooper line.

Sly locates the contents of the drive; it is a single video which Sly clicks on. It shows a security camera feed from the top corner of the lab with Penelope working on some piece of machinery, it seems innocuous to Sly but what happens next definitely rings bells. She stops her welding and goes and walks over to the Thievius Raccoonus, where she takes it off it's pedestal and takes a flick through it's pages. Sly is shocked that all of his families secrets being stolen in front of his very eyes. She replaces it and goes back to work, with Bentley going back inside just as she starts up again. It clicks in Sly's head. That's how she has managed to pull of all of the heists, that's how she took the cane from him in Egypt. But while this gives answers, it's only asks more questions. He was going to think them over but sitting silently watching him is Bentley. Sly only notices once the film is done. There is going to be some explaining to do.

"Sly." Bentley says with a hint of sorriness about himself.

"It's okay Bentley, you didn't know." Sly consoles him.

"No, I'm sorry you had to find out this way." Bentley replies, still feeling sorry for himself.

"It's okay Bentley." Sly says as he gets up from the chair and walks by Bentley to get into the elevator. Bentley goes after him while trying to explain his actions.

"I was going to tell you in Egypt but you were occupied with your invisibility and…" Bentley notices that Sly is not facing him; he is focused on something else even through he is looking directly ahead. Bentley keeps his silence as the elevator reaches its destination where Sly gets out and walks quickly to the computer that Bentley was working at. Bentley follows him, intent on finding out what he is doing. This is what he was worried about, being unable to control himself and doing something rash, possibly towards his friends. Sly just goes on the internet and pulls up a map, he gets out of the chair and walks into his room where Carmelita is asleep and shuts the door, leaving Bentley all alone in the lab, the others are all asleep as well. Bentley looks at the screen, an airfield is zoomed in, the destination is Kinderdijk. Bentley can't believe he didn't think of it before, with all his searching and genius, he was bested by a thief at his computer in 30 seconds. With that, Bentley goes into his own room, thinking over what has just happened. The tiredness just overwhelms him completely as he crashes in his bed, allowing him to sleep the night away.


	14. Chapter 13 - The Necessary Recon

**Bentley's Lab, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. 7:21am 27 July 2013**

A whole bag of mixed emotions has gone through that laboratory that night, but in the morning it is like nothing had ever happened. It looks completely normal. Murray has already eaten a stack of pancakes or six and is cooking up another batch for everyone else. Carmelita is twirling her badge around a table, this involvement with the Cooper gang is certain to have changed her ideas. She's an agent, working with the people she's trying to put away. She doesn't have choice though. Interpol would put her back in prison, and for what? Because she had to leave that one-day when Bentley came past? Did they somehow find out about the true nature of her 'late night stakeouts'? She doesn't know the answer; all she can do is smell the batter frying up on the stovetop and hope that someday she will be busting criminals again. She looks at Sly as he gets out of his room walks to the table and sits beside her. She sees Sly is different to all of those other criminals, 98% are just rotten people who deserve to be in no other place than prison. 1.99% are people who put up a decent fight then get caught after they can't live with the guilt. But then there is Sly. What would have been an impossible contradiction in her mind before they met, a good-hearted thief, is sitting beside her. Maybe criminal activities and being good are not mutually exclusive events after all. She sees it right now and has seen it constantly ever since she saw him.

Another batch of pancakes is made and is brought to the table by Murray. The others have all joined them at the table and they dig in. Murray has had his fill so he doesn't need to steal any extra from them. They are all going to need their energy for today, a lot is in store for them.

**Kinderdijk Airfield, The Netherlands. 8:03am 27 July 2013**

The sun is up in the high in the sky already, the European summer means very long days. Perfect conditions for flying. They see the new airfield for the first time. It is changed greatly from the place they saw in 2005. Gone are the grass farmland and windmills, It is replaced with a huge runway and multiple hangars. Bentley never realised that she was actually rebuilding the place; he never had any reason to question her. Oh what tricks the heart can play when you're in love. They can see the airfield but there is a canal between them and the airfield. This rules out any sort of entrance for Sly from this end but it does open up certain opportunities elsewhere. It's good they have Dimitri back because they'll need his frogman abilities for this part.

"I've run some schematics of the airfield. It seems that we can access the airfield by using the underground drainage tunnels that pass underneath the airfield. Dimitri, you are going to swim across the channel and plant a bug beneath the drains, giving us an ear on the inside." Bentley explains his plan.

"I'm gonna be smooth." Dimitri exclaims.

"Just be silent." Sly adds.

Dimitri already has his gear on, along with a waterproof bag containing the bugs, which he needs to place around the airport. The channel is easy, there have been much worse waters that he has swum in, and even the boats that come past are easy to swim under. He makes his way to the drain entrance on the other side of the bank. The gang can see him from the other side as he uses his ring to cut through the wire grate that covers up the drain. The pieces of the grate are thrown into the river to be carried away somewhere. Dimitri takes off his facemask and wanders through the tunnels, using the binocucom to find his way to the first grate, it looks like it's just below the runway. He places the first one and moves onto the next one, which is in a hangar, but he can hear a noise. It stops and starts, once he gets the bug down, its amplifying capability allows Dimitri to listen in.

"Let me tell you something, you better pay me now for what I've done so far. I've got the others but I need more money for last one. Yeah that guy was expendable, we don't need him anymore. Look I need to get back to work, just have that money or I'm out." Penelope says, sounding like she's on the phone to someone. Dimitri can't do much else but listen and plant the other bugs with only a steady stream of water flowing along his feet for company. It's not what some would call the glamorous job but it is these types of jobs which allow for the more eye-catching things to happen in the future. The gang is just waiting around as Dimitri comes back with the job done. Dimitri gives the thumbs up as Bentley gets the array of bugs working together. He comes back with the news of what he has heard.

"She's a gold-digger." Dimitri blurts out.

"A what?" Bentley asks.

"She wants the greenbacks baby!" Dimitri shouts.

"Penelope is doing it for the money?" Sly asks, puzzled at her motives.

"That's what I heard." Dimitri reaffirms.

"It's all we have, we have to wait till those bugs tells us more." Sly says as Murray gets in gear to make the hour-long trip back to the lab. The bug that they had was working fine, all they heard constantly was the German pilot constantly talking about the plane and getting all of the parts to perfection, using only terms that Bentley could possibly comprehend. It was getting nowhere; they needed some more direct recon. Bentley is going to use one of Penelope's strengths against her. It is an RC drone that they can fly from the lab here to Kinderdijk. Bentley, as usual, has got some fancy tech bolted in the drones sky blue paint to blend in with the sky. An array of cameras to get surveillance from every angle. High resolution and thermal mounted in the front side and back, all inside a sleek carbon body. For all its technology, it still needs a person to launch it. That person is Murray. The hippo lifts it above his head like he's lifting another barbell. He uses the lift to get to the ground floor and walks the worn wooden stairs that groan and squeak under the weight of Murray. He reaches the roof and sees the open sky.

"Bentley, I'm in position." Murray radios in. This cues Bentley to power up the miniature jet engines on the wings. The wailing of the engines breaks the idyllic silence surrounding him. The force of the engines is making Murray's muscles tense as he tries to hold on. But he starts his action and throws it into the air and the plane takes off into the distance. Murray re-joins the gang as they crowd around Bentley's chair as he pilots the plane to its destination. But Carmelita has taken Sly away into their room away from the gang. They need to discuss very private matters.

"Listen, about last night." Carmelita starts.

"It was great." Sly smugly says.

"I'm being serious here."

"Seriously great."

"Sly, I need to you to listen to this." Carmelita says as she tries to get Sly to snap out of his mood.

"I'm all ears." He says, eager to hear what she says. There is silence then a deep breath leaves the vixens mouth.

"I'm pregnant." She says, almost coming to terms with it herself. Sly is shocked at first. But there is happiness bursting out inside of him. The next Cooper is inside her. Tears roll down his eyes but no crying takes place, he gives his partner a big hug as they both feeling incredibly happy for each other in an ecstasy of joy. The moment doesn't last as like as they would like. They still have a job to do. They walk out of the room trying to hide any other emotions from the group. It's their little secret for now. Meanwhile the plane's immense speed has meant that Bentley is already circling the hangar, taking videos and photos of the exterior, formulating possible entry points and getting the layout of the airfield. The schematic he has are only very basic, giving nothing of the above ground buildings that adorn the airfield. Mysteriously, they are incredibly well protected. Any hack would take weeks to get inside, even with all of Bentley's technology and computer know how.

"Preliminary scans complete. Switching to thermovision." Bentley announces out loud. The screen changes from the normal camera to black, white and different hues of grey. They can see the blobs inside the hangar but they don't know who is who. The temperature differences in body heat only produce a blob as their body heat radiates into the air, just like Joey said before. But this is before Bentley resolves the image until it is crystal clear, clearly showing the outlines of the plane, many guards and Penelope who is standing across from 5 locked up prisoners.

"Patching through bug feed." Bentley announces.

"Now when I said not to escape, naturally you tried. But you failed. So now one of you shall become a rug, the question is who." Penelope says speaking to what looks like some people locked up very tightly.

"What about that raccoon you keep talking about? Surely you would spare one our lives if we got him." One of them states in a Brazilian accent trying to save is own life.

"But if you don't bring him back here, you all die." Penelope warns.

"This is bad idea, I shall blame you for my death." Another one states, in a Chinese accent.

"We can't turn on our own." A Mexican accent states to the Chinese thief.

"Why did you even think of that?" A South African accent despairs back towards the Brazilian. They don't work well together. The infighting is desperately obvious.

"Get me another ice bath, or else I won't work." The last one states, clearly being too fussy for the job.

"Looks like a decision has been made, I get to see what's black, white and red all over." Penelope says as what looks like a penguin is dragged away from the hangar to be turned into a rug, more like a foot mat given his size.

"Why did you even get him? He's the worst thief in the world." The Mexican thief complains to Penelope.

"That's not your business, your new business is trying to find Sly Cooper and bring him here. Now go." Penelope instructs, but none of them are leaving quite so soon.

"Why don't you show us who he is? We can't find him if we don't know what he looks like." The Chinese thief asks, Penelope is ready to give herself a face palm. Their target is so obvious; they can't be that dumb.

"It's clear who it is. You're thieves, you should know him." Penelope angrily despairs towards them; this just annoys her further but she has no other choice, she has work to do here which prevents her to go after Sly. She takes out a photo of Sly and gives one to each of them. They know who it is this whole time; they just want to make her angry because they need something to cheer them up once she is finished with them. "Urgh, here, take this and don't come back till you get him. Oops, one more thing. I've put a GPS tracker inside your bodies so don't think you can hide from me. Now go." She states as one of her guards opens a small door for them to leave. Trusting strangers who may not be loyal to capture the world's best master thief is very risky. Too risky in her eyes, she wouldn't have done it this way but she's not in charge of this mission.


	15. Chapter 14 - The Thieving Reality

**Sorry for the shortness of this chapter, i couldn't break the next part in two because it would ruin the flow and adding it to this one would mean that it is very long. Still, i hope you enjoy it.**

* * *

"She said they were thieves." Carmelita says.

"She sounds just like you." Joey states.

"Hold on guys, I'll get some photos of these guys." Bentley says as he zooms in the camera to capture a glimpse of them all. A pile of photos prints out beside them to take a look at. Carmelita takes the four pictures of the thieves and takes them to Sly.

"Do you know any one of these thieves?" Carmelita asks as she fans out the photos for Sly to see, he doesn't recognise any of them.

"Sorry." Sly says as he turns around to Joey, he suspects he might know something else.

"Maybe Joey can help us out, after all he's the one who's been with them." Sly says as he stares at Joey intently, forcing him to spill over with information.

"Okay, let's see. In order of appearance, this guy lives in the favelas in Brazil. He steals drugs for cartels in exchange for safety for his family. This guyalways went on about meditationand focus. He was a total nut job before I realised about his completely annoying ability to read minds. This girl down here was a total neat freak; she never left anything out of place ever. This included her thefts, never anything left, she kept boasting about her drug thefts in the Mexican desert. About how not a single drop of whatever they were carrying remained after she'd been there. Finally, This last guy knows every thing about diamonds. Him and I would have more diamonds than the royal families of the entire planet." Joey explains, it seems they were a real mixed bag when it comes to thieves.

"So they've got thieves from around the world from every continent." Sly summarises.

"Except one." Joey says, knowing what the next answer should be.

"Me." Sly says, determined not to be caught by Penelope.

"But why do they never mention my name?" Sly asks, a subtle detail extracted from the video can reveal an unseen clue.

"I don't have all the answers." Joey replies.

"So far you have." Sly states.

"Let's just analyse these photos to see what else we can get." Bentley says, getting into the repetitive task of analysis.

"Shouldn't we do something to stop them?" Sly asks Bentley.

"Not right now, but when the time is right, we strike." Bentley explains as he continues with the data crunching. The typing of the keys on the computer are echoing as he inputs each new line of data into algorithms which crunch the data into useful information. This 'big data' is the new way of trying to analyse and figure out everything that can be found out. The data is all out there, it just takes the right person to put it all to use. Bentley, being far ahead of the technology curve, is the master of this technique. His algorithms, backed up by his powerful quantum computing system, take information out of anything; pictures, video, sound, electromagnetic radiation in the air. Just about anything can be turned into information that's useful to someone. That information produces the result he predicted earlier, they have to let the thieves come to them.

Technology can only go so far when making a plan. Sly does this all the time, thinking quickly on his feet is what he does in order to make the split second decisions which can decide his fate in even smaller amounts of time. Thieving is what he does best, and thieves are hunting them. Sly should know what thieves do, how they react, how they move. But Sly is part of a dying breed of thieves, the master thief is almost extinct around the world but it is not a protected species. The motives between the petty and the 'righteous' are vastly different. Most small time thieves just steal maybe once or twice for the money. Some grow into bigger and badder thieves, chasing even greater paydays than the one before them. Along this process, the bad one's are weeded out by the natural selection that is the police. If you aren't good enough, then you are going to get caught.

Sly can see why thieves do it, the easy money is tempting. Being free from the rat race and taking it from other people. But where's the fun, the honour, the challenge in that? It's why Sly specialises in stealing from criminals. He gets all three of those things that keep him going. He doesn't need the money. A huge vault on Kaine Island is a testament to that fact. He just is a thief, he was, is and always will be, just like all of the Coopers before him and what he hope's is the next Cooper to come. He looks across to Carmelita as she sits, re-united with a shock pistol once again. Bentley took care of that one; he just made it the same as it was before. He claimed that he managed to get it back from the police in exchange for a tiny microchip that could boost their computers memory clock speed by 200%. She didn't really buy it though; Bentley was never that much of a smooth talker. Still, she is grateful for what this gang has done for her. Giving her safe refuge from the corrupt officials that want to lock her up in jail for going outside of the building. Breaking her out of prison twice in one day. Saving her on numerous occasions. It's clear that without Sly, she could still be stuck in the Contessa's hypnotic trance, doing whatever deeds that were commanded through the Clockwerk eyes.

"Sly, come look at this." Bentley says to Sly who looks up at Bentley and gets out of his chair. He takes a look at Carmelita, who is still fiddling around with the shock pistol and twirling it around the table as if in hope more than anything. Sly really wants to get her job back; it would mean everything to her if he did that. It is too early to think about that though as Sly sees what Bentley has brought up on his multiple screens.

"Do you see this?" Bentley says. It's a security camera feed at a crossroads in Rotterdam, the largest port in Europe. The two sides of the road are full of workers, anxious to get to their destination, not looking at anything else. Just focused on the job at hand. Not seeing what is happening around them. The footage rolls on, nothing out of the ordinary appears as the two sides converge in the middle of the road, weaving their ways around each other.

"I don't see anything." Sly says Sly, puzzled at what Bentley is trying to show him. "What am I meant to see?"

"Let me show you again." Bentley says as he rewinds the footage.

"You see this person?" Bentley says as he highlights the target on the screen for Sly to see.

"That look's like one of the thieves." Sly says.

"Exactly." Bentley answers. "Now watch what happens here." Bentley plays the footage and sees the red outlined thief walk into the foot traffic. Another red outline follows behind as well as the other two from the other side. Sly sees what this is now. It is a well-coordinated swindle. He sees the subtle pickpocket then the triple handoff where innocent peoples mobile phones, wallets and other expensive items end up in a shopping bag carried by the female member of their little group.

"I know how to be a thief." Sly says, thinking that Bentley is furthering his education.

"That's not the point I'm trying to show you. It's that theft itself. Look how they pilfered, from ordinary people, their belongings in the name of a quick dollar. We are going to confront them, but you need to make sure that you know who you are dealing with. These are people who will try to take advantage of us in order to further their selfish ways. No matter how much they try to relate to you as thieves." Bentley warns to Sly. He worries, maybe a little too much, about Sly and being corrupted into the normal street thief. It just shows how much he cares for them.

"I'm not like them Bentley, you don't need to worry." Sly casually states.

"Good, because you are going to meet them today." Bentley says.

"Name the time and place." Sly says, eager to show these 'thieves' who's boss.

"No, you're going to name the time and place, we are going to create a heist for them, but it's going to be a trap. We trap them in and keep them quiet in order to further isolate Penelope from any external help she may be getting." Bentley explains

"Sounds like we've got a plan." Sly says.


	16. Chapter 15 - Difference of Opinion

**An abandoned warehouse, Rotterdam, The Netherlands. 1:23pm 27 July 2013 **

"Lasers check, motion detectors check, spotlights check, an obscenely valuable diamond necklace, check." Bentley says, ticking off all of the ingredients needed for a heist.

"This looks like a lousy setup Bentley, I could get through it with my eyes closed." Sly arrogantly states.

"It just means it will take less time for us to trap them." Bentley explains as they enter their makeshift base for this mission, a shipping container, which contains the van and its occupants who have a clear view of everything via security cameras, mounted around the warehouse.

"I'll just post an anonymous tip on ThiefNet and they'll come running." Bentley says as the invitation is sent. He can see where they are by hacking into the GPS trackers that Penelope alluded to earlier. It seems they are working in a group nearing the warehouse at walking pace.

"Carmelita, this is like having a front row seat to a robbery." Sly explains, itching to breakout the proverbial popcorn.

"If only it was like this for all of your thefts." Carmelita replies.

"If only." Sly smugly states, she won't be offered this pleasure to one of Sly's heists once she is back at Interpol. They hear the creaky doors of the warehouse open, straining under their rusting wheels and joints.

"They're not meant to go in that way. The roof entrance was set up…"Bentley worries.

"Sly Cooper, we know you are here, if you can hear this then take note. We didn't come for your diamond necklace, we came because we didn't want to work for that pink mouse any longer. So now, come out and let us talk." The Brazilian shouts at them, not knowing exactly where they are.

The Brazilian thief is a greenish yellow lizard who wears a dark blue shirt which together represents the national colours of brazil. The Chinese thief is a Komodo dragon who has a long tail and is the shortest out of them all, and a little bit overweight. He wears a red robe. The Mexican thief is a fox with darker orange skin than Carmelita's. She looks similar to Carmelita with the clothing, the only obvious difference is her dark brown hair. The South African thief is a gazelle with tan fur with a black and white stripe running down one side. He wears a striped shirt that is almost the same colour as his fur but slightly lighter.

"Should we show ourselves? It could be a trap." Bentley asks Sly as he looks at his computer, but the absence of his best friend beside him tells him that he's taking control of this one.

"Yes, I'm here. Now you come over here and we can talk." Sly shouts back at them.

"Turn off the lasers first." The Chinese thief shouts.

"Not a chance." Sly replies back as he waits for them atop a container. They start at the traps; the lasers are not a problem for the Mexican thief who looks the most in shape out of them all. The others, however, get burnt and keep falling over as they try to negotiate this 'relatively easy' course. Sly can't stand to see them get hurt for much longer, all the screaming and shouting from the singes the lasers dish out to them is too much to bare for Sly.

"Shut it off Bentley." Sly says into his earpiece. The lasers turn off and he sees the full extent of their failings. He really expected them to be better than this, he is disappointed at them, not even capable of performing an easy heist. The four thieves walk up to where Sly is and hoist themselves up onto the top of the container. Sly hides his disappointment at them; it might help with their confrontation.

"So let's discuss this, you want to work with me, to help defeat Penelope?" Sly explains.

"That was her name?" The South African asks.

"You seem surprised." Sly says, slightly suspicious of his knowledge.

"We didn't know her name." The Chinese thief explains, hoping to be a clear as possible.

"Okay then, well come meet my gang." Sly says as he takes them over to the van inside the container. The gang walk out of the van to meet them. The 4 thieves see Joey sitting in the room and react with a mixture of hope and intrigue. The Mexican thief sees Carmelita and reacts with an unsureness and confusion as to what to do next.

"So this is Bentley, Murray, Carmelita and Joey who I presume you already know." Sly introduces them to his gang. It seems like they never get the credit for anything they do. The newspapers are always emblazoned with something along the lines of 'Cooper strikes again', no mention ever of the team behind the thief.

"So you survived the fall." The Chinese thief states to Joey.

"What, I thought you already knew." Joey replies back.

"You're sense of humour is…"

"The best."

"More like mediocre." The Mexican thief adds.

"Double humour I see" Joey replies as he tries to win back the humour.

"Nobodies sense of humour is going to help us defeat Penelope." Carmelita says as she tries to get them focused.

"You were always no nonsense after that day." She starts, going into her prepared speech.

"Listen here." She shouts angrily as she points her shock pistol at her face, the finger itching to pull the trigger. No one shall talk about that day when she is in the same room. It is the quickest way to make her angry.

"Don't do this, you have too much to lose, but you know that Sly can help you. In more ways than one." The Chinese thief warns.

"Who is this guy?" She asks to Joey.

"He can read minds." Joey states simply.

"Don't say that, it ruins the illusion." The Chinese thief says like he's trying to protect a secret that doesn't exist.

"There is no need for an illusion if you can actually do it." Joey explains, dumbfounded at his lack of reality. Bentley and Murray are becoming worried that bringing them together was a bad idea. All this infighting is going to do no good.

"Stop it guys, if we want to stop Penelope, we need to work together." Bentley says as he tries to get them back on track. The bickering continues between them all, the noise rises to a crescendo where Sly comes in like the loud crashing of cymbals to stop them all.

"Just shut up, Look, I don't care if you are thieves or master thieves." Sly says to them in a fit of anger, but still in control of himself.

"He does." The Chinese thief cheekily adds in.

"Ok, but I do care about is stoping Penelope from doing whatever she is going to do. Now Bentley has a plan, if you want in, you follow it. But if not, Murray needs to work out a bit and you guys seem like the perfect weights." Sly warns them, trapping them is out of the equation now.

"Your threats are nothing but empty like your beliefs." The Chinese thief adds, he is really getting on Sly's nerves.

"What beliefs?" Sly says.

"You are a master thief, you believe in stealing only from other criminals. You believe that it is immoral to steal from ordinary people. I believe you are missing out on the wealth of the world begging for the taking." The Chinese thief explains, alluding to a new opportunity. Sly is having none of it though.

"That's how I've always been. There's no fun, no challenge, no honour in stealing from ordinary people." Sly repeats his little mantra to them.

"That's where all the easy money comes from." The Brazilian thief adds.

"Let's get straight into the plan." Bentley says but he is being overwhelmed by the conversations going around him.

"No, no, no, no I need to deal with her first." The Mexican thief insists.

"Stay right there." Murray says as he blocks the path between her and Carmelita.

"No oversized pink hippo tells me where to stand." She replies.

"Except for the Murray." Murray adds his exception. But she still tries to push him aside.

"Out of my way." She shouts at Murray, eager to get to Carmelita. Murray stops her by taking her off the ground with one arm and throwing her down to the ground where she lands perfectly on her feet.

"This was a bad idea. We need to get them out of here." Sly whispers to Bentley.

"Okay guys, now if you want to hear the rest of them plan we need to show you something outside." Bentley shouts, trying to take on Sly's advice.

"It's a trick to get us away because you think that we are bad thieves." The Chinese thief accuses Bentley. His mind reading powers don't seem like they are being put to good use.

"I'm not saying that, its just if you keep fighting like this we will never get anything done. If you really wanted to help you could be a bit more cooperative." Bentley explains to them.

"Come on guys, let's go. We don't need them to help us anymore." The Mexican thief says, as she is ready to walk out of the door. The other thieves follow her out. The gang looks at themselves to see what they have just done. Bickering and arguing goes nowhere. Sure, the Cooper gang have their differences, but they complement each other with their strengths and weaknesses overlapping like the fibres in a cloth, when put together, make a strong team.

"We'll just have to do the plan ourselves." Bentley says, it's not a big obstacle for them; they have all the people they need anyway.

"I'll just grab…" Sly says as he turns around to see the empty pedestal with no necklace on it. You know you are master thief when you rip off a master criminal. And one of them has done just that. Sly decides to make an exception for this; does one theft make a master thief? So it was one necklace, Sly has many more valuables in the Cooper vault and in various safe houses around the world.

"Okay then, we know from the bug that the plane is going to be moving soon, that means it's out of the hangar and easy to target, our job is to shut it down. Murray and Joey, you need to get us into the plane by opening the hatch on the tail of the plane, there is an emergency lever on the outside, which only your combined height could reach, Joey will jump off your back to reach the lever. While this is happening, Sly and Carmelita will get onto the roof of the hangar and glide onto the top of the plane, he can sneak in when all the guards rush to the back of the plane, Once inside, the schematics tell me that if cut a group of wires on the top of the plane, it will cut the electricity, hydraulics and fuel lines. Leaving them no chance to escape." Bentley explains his plan. They make their out of the warehouse, quickly grabbing all the cameras and security items they had placed around the place. Sly's athleticism means that they are removed in no time. They head off to the short drive to Kinderdijk to confront Penelope's plane.


	17. Chapter 16 - Kinder Surprise

**Kinderdijk Airfield, The Netherlands. 1:57pm 27 July 2013**

They are behind the hangar; the entrance was via a local barge across the channel, easy enough to be undetected. Sly is on the roof with Carmelita and Bentley who is getting a good aerial view of things from his vantage point, Murray and Joey are on the side waiting for the doors to open. Bentley is on the top as well with Carmelita. Dimitri is in the drain in scuba gear monitoring things from the inside.

"They're getting into the plane now. There are lot of bodies on the plane." Dimitri says from his view from below through the grate into the hangar.

"All the more challenging." Sly says.

"The doors are opening and the engines are starting up." Dimitri announces.

The plane starts to move out of the hangar, getting ready for an immediate takeoff. Joey and Murray run behind the plane, as they do this, some liquid nitrogen is sprayed their way, giving them the chills, but they reach the rear opening, Sly and Carmelita get onto the top of the plane, Sly jumps onto the tail fin and slides down whereas Carmelita uses a borrowed parachute from Sly. Joey jumps on top of Murray to get high enough to reach the lever, the rear door starts to lower, They see the guards ready to get them and they all wait on the one side of the plane. Meanwhile Sly and Carmelita get in from the wing entrance, they open the hatch, and the guards are distracted at one end, so they get an easy passage through the front end. That's not to say they don't encounter any resistance. But they get to the cockpit and are ready to burst through. Back in the back, Murray's fists get a workout defeating the guards at the rear, leaving their bodies bouncing on the ground outside. Sly opens the door to the cockpit to find no one inside; it is the world's largest RC plane.

"There's no one flying it." Sly radios to Bentley.

"It's an RC plane?" Bentley asks, he knew that Penelope's talents with remote controlled devices were extraordinary but on this scale, it is an achievement in itself.

"Yes, Bentley, can you hack the planes instruments so it doesn't take off?" Sly asks quickly, not wanting to be taken away.

"If you have the remote hacking device." Bentley adds.

"Maybe not then." Sly says.

"I'll do it." Murray chimes in, he's good at driving a car but flying a plane? Sure, the van can fly but this is an actual plane with hundreds of buttons and switches which confound Sly and Carmelita. Murray rushes to the front and takes charge into the pilots seat. "I'll fly the plane, it's just like the van right?" Murray adds as he puts the headphones on.

"Juts do it big guy." Sly says as he sees the plane pick up speed as the engines go to full thrust. Murray is already onto it, he turns the plane to manual override and powers down the engines and they roll to a stop a third of the way along the runway. The hippo just flew it like he's been doing it all his life. The two onlookers are completely stunned.

"Murray, you're a natural." Bentley says from his vantage point.

"Just like on the van, you don't use most of the buttons. Only the important ones." Murray explains.

"Just like your team. You only ever use the important ones." Another voice adds as it hacks into their radio frequency. It is Penelope, who else would know what they were going to do and set it up with fake things said over the bug about the plane. It played right into her hands.

"Penelope!" Bentley says angrily into the earpiece.

"Just turn around." Penelope says, standing a few metres behind Bentley. As Bentley turns around he sees her new friend. Another raccoon with a set of handheld controls supported around his shoulders. He is wearing a brown leather jacket with cotton pants and goggles that are resting above his eyes. It can't be.

"You." Bentley says towards the raccoon.

"Who else did you think it was?" Penelope asks as if it's bleedingly obvious.

"Is that?" Bentley asks in disbelief. Penelope acts as if he should believe it.

"Otto? Yes." Penelope confirms. Otto looks back at her as if he enjoys being with her.

"Your time machine is working well." Bentley adds.

"Perfectly in fact, how's yours? Oh wait, its not here." Penelope states.

"Everyone come back here now." Bentley shouts into his radio but it is of no use.

"Your communications don't work anymore, so now I'm going to turn one more thing into an RC vehicle." Penelope says. This cues Otto with the control set. The control set is not for the plane but for Bentley's wheelchair. Otto tests out the buttons first to see if they actually work. Doing this with no wires is such a joy to him, they get tangled everywhere. The chair moves around the top of the hangar, firing bombs, jumping around and spins him around. Bentley has no control over it.

"It's so delightful" Otto says in a high-pitched voice like he's a kid in an aeroplane parts store.

"There's more where that came from." Penelope says, promising him more of the same technology.

"He just goes round and round so fast." Otto says in the same voice. He stops the chair to see how dizzy Bentley has become; his head can't stand up straight. Penelope walks up to the disoriented Bentley to give him a message.

"If you can still hear me. I will be recruiting another technologically adept Cooper if you don't leave Sly and his gang. I hope you know what I mean by this." After Penelope speaks to him, he resumes the fairground ride in his chair.

Meanwhile, the gang aboard the plane are checking out the instruments on board. It is clear from what they see that this plane has everything needed to command from the skies.

"How many guns do you need on a plane?" Sly asks.

"30 give or take." Joey replies back casually.

"All no match for the Murray." Murray states, after what he did, he thinks he can take on everyone. The confidence is high in him.

"Don't get ahead of yourself." Sly warns as he tries to get some perspective into Murray's mind. They walk past the wings where banks of computers sit; complete with everything that is needed to be done at 11000m above sea level. But that is not what interests Sly.

"They could run an entire country from here with all of this technology." Joey remarks. But Sly is staring at something at the back.

"They don't need to." Sly says, in shock of the machine in front of him.

"What is it Sly?" Murray asks, sounding about as concerned as Sly is. Sly sees the huge machine at the back of the plane. From the digital readouts that are around the entrance, showing time and date, this must be her time machine.

"This is what she used." Sly says as the others take a look at the machine which takes up most of the room, the opening is about as wide as the fuselage, leaving only a tiny gap to sneak past. It looks like a huge portal where you can walk through into another time.

"A new time machine." Sly says to himself, in awe of what he sees.

"A time machine? Are you sure you didn't sniff some of Dimitri's joints?" Joey asks in complete disbelief that a time machine exists.

"Look at it." Sly says, trying to prove to him that it is, in fact, a time machine.

"So it's not the smoke." Joey says in order to make sense of it all.

"I've already had enough time travel, I'm not going in there." Carmelita says. All the time travel wasn't good for her. But what can she do about it?

"Looks simple enough, in fact, I should be able to find out where she's gone." Joey says, his tech knowledge is good but nowhere near Bentley's genius. He thinks there is a 'history' feature like on a computer Internet browser. Sure enough it exists, it even has cup holders.

"Okay, in the past few weeks, she's been to 1914, 1298BC and 1914 again." Joey says, reading out the display on the computer.

"1298BC was when she came to try and get me. But I don't know anything about the others." Sly says as he ponders what they could mean.

"In 1914 she went to Germany both times." He says, adding more detail. Sly goes into a state of panic.

"Oh god. She got Otto." Sly says, he feels sick inside.

"Who is Otto?" Carmelita asks.

"Otto van Cooper."

"Another ancestor." Carmelita says, it's one the last things she wants to have right now. It depends on whether Otto is like Tennessee or like Salim, secretly she likes Tennessee, he was such a gentleman to her.

"I see it now, the German accent, flying planes. It makes sense." Sly says as he connects the dots.

"We better get out here. Before they come after us again." Joey says, realising they are sitting ducks in the middle of the runway.

They exit out of the plane. As they run back to the hangar, Sly spots something moving on the top of the hangar where Bentley was. Sly takes out the binocucom and tries to contact Bentley, but it doesn't work and he can see why, he can only see Bentley being spun around and around. Sly runs as fast as he can to the hangar and climbs a drainage pipe on the side of the hangar, it's a high climb. Penelope, meanwhile, is having a fun time seeing her ex-boyfriend getting very close to empting his insides out.

"He goes around so fast." Otto gleefully remarks again.

"You'll get your weapons as soon as you…" Penelope explains as she is interrupted by another raccoon on the roof. "Well, you just made it easier." She says to Sly.

"Otto, Why do you do this?" Sly pleas to Otto

"How do you know my name?" Otto asks quickly but no answer is given as Penelope issues an order.

"Enough, If you want the weapons, you get me Sly."

"I'm Sly Coo…" Sly starts.

"Stop talking." Penelope shouts aggressively at Sly, and then turns to Otto._ "_Get him." Otto takes the controls and throws the heavily disoriented Bentley out of the chair, leaving him to dizzy to get up. The chair now becomes Sly's next enemy, the only thing separating them.

"I'm Sly Cooper." Sly says, tyring to convince Otto of his Cooper genetics. There is no time to do that as Sly dodges the bombs thrown out by the robotic arms of the wheelchair.

"Ha, you're pathetic trying to hide behind my great family name." Otto retorts back as he launches the extendable arms at Sly's body.

"But I am a Cooper." Sly insists.

"Prove it then." Otto challenges. It seems combat is not going to prove Otto anything, as Otto isn't what you would call an athlete. Sly delves into the information he has read about him in the Thievius Raccoonus. All those times he has flicked through its pages is going to pay off now.

"You attached the family cane as a propeller because you couldn't wield it like normal. You weren't physically impressive so you use gadgets to perform your thefts. You always loved to fly and fettle with your plane, I guess that's why you are here, to get new parts in exchange for flying skills and Cooper knowledge." Sly quickly says to Otto as he dodges the various attacks that a souped up wheelchair can give. Otto reacts as if Sly has read his mind. The control set drops to the ground and the wheelchair stops. The motionless Otto just stares blankly into the distance, contemplating why he is fighting against his future ancestor on top of a hanger near Rotterdam. It causes Otto to fall down to his knees, still with his back straight as it hits the ground. His body has gone into a state of shock. Penelope is angry at his complete reversal of sides. But she was expecting this, and in her plans, everyone is expendable except herself.

"That's it, no parts for you. You can forget about that fighter you wanted." Penelope says in a fit of anger. The motionless Otto doesn't react.

"You sick, cruel mouse. Who turns their own family against their own?" Sly asks angrily at Penelope.

"Me, goodbye." Penelope says as she jumps off the edge of the hangar with no parachute. It's at least a 30-metre drop, there's no way she'd survive that. Sly rushes to the edge to try to find her but there is not sign, no mouse hanging onto the edge underneath, no body bounce at the bottom, just nothing. He turns his attention to Otto and Bentley who is getting back up but still is a bit woozy.

"Bentley!" Sly shouts, he is going to fall. Sly runs at full pace then slides as he gets down to reach with his cane at Bentley who in turn reaches with an arm as he dangles over the edge. Murray is ready down below to catch him but that is not necessary as Sly pulls him back up.

"I've got you buddy." Sly says to Bentley who is grateful to saving him. They both look at Otto who is trying to hide his face from the rest of the world. He is too ashamed to admit it even to himself that he has done what he has done. In the end they can't sit on the roof of the hangar forever. Sly puts Bentley back in his wheelchair, its not demeaning to Bentley, everyone needs help sometimes. Bentley would rather that Otto be helped first, Bentley can always crawl to his chair. There is no issue with dignity when only your best friends can see. Bentley lifts up Otto of the ground with the arms of his chair, he is still conscious, but unwilling to move or talk. He doesn't want to face it, nor does he want to relive that feeling. But while Penelope can hate, Sly can relate.


	18. Chapter 17 - An Unlikely Hero

**Bentley's Lab, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. 3:14pm 27 July 2013**

The mood is all centred around Otto, it's like the world is forcing him to admit what he has done but he is trying to hide it from everyone. The sheer loss dignity and honour that he has cast on his family is wrenching him back into his own mind. Almost wishing he was separated from this situation so that he doesn't need to face them, They seem like a motley crew to Otto who is used to having everything in order and precise. They seem nice enough, they all take their turns to try to coax him out of his spell but nothing works. He is dreaming of home, home is where he belongs; the dominance of the skies in his bi-plane is undisputed. Even with war threatening to spill over in his time, he will be ready for two sides fighting from the air. War will also bring him most of the treasures that he 'collects' as museums get raided and galleries pilfered, he will take his share and fly it away to the Cooper vault. Not by plane though, his plane can't reach the island in the pacific. He thinks it's a poor choice to store all the treasures halfway around the world. It takes weeks for Otto to get there.

Sly is also having trouble, finding anything in the Thievius Raccoonus for any sign of how Penelope could get away. There is no doubt she got it from here, but Sly can't find anything. Despite all of his knowledge of his own line, nothing coalesces in his mind. He puts back the book on the special pedestal and looks back at Otto. He still won't snap out of it. Sly thinks back to his own breakdowns, the two that brought him crashing to the ground like a demolished building. While Sly doesn't like to think about them, he is better for the experience. He learns as much about the things around him as much as himself. Knowing one's limits really help when it comes to being a thief, it helps with not being overambitious, cocky or complacent.

Another person who doesn't know what they are doing is Dimitri, he just sits in the corner, wanting to smoke but not doing so. No disco music is playing, no re-watching his own episodes of 'Disco Diver'; just the sitting is what he is doing. He thinks he is not being used to the maximum, sure he is good at scuba diving but he is no one trick pony. He wants to get an opportunity that will prove himself to them. Bentley gathers some new information as he analyses the tapes from the hidden bugs.

"I've got something. When Otto van Cooper was brought to the present, his plane was brought back as well. From the intelligence from the bug, It seems to be held in a separate room." Bentley states he hears it through his headphones.

"That's not the full story." Otto says, it is the first thing that has come out of his mouth in over an hour. His OCD like detailing courses through him, he is ready to correct the error of Bentley's story. "I can't just fly it out of there, its broken."

"But you've never crashed." Sly says.

"Not until now, I was flying along to my next heist when I saw a light, a light so bright my goggles were of no use. Then I was so close to the ground I couldn't pull up fast enough. I crash-landed onto the runway at that airfield. The entire bottom of the plane was destroyed. But almost like they knew what was happening, they came out and took me out of the plane. Then they showed me the most beautiful machine I had ever seen, a plane so big and so fast with so many guns and weapons. I was in love. But then I saw her. Her tools, so finely machined and when she told me that she made the plane, I was in love. My heart leapt through my chest." Otto says, almost like he is falling in love as he even mentions Penelope.

"Get back on track." Bentley says but Otto is in too deep in his thoughts.

"Just knowing that the throttle was connected to those engines was so empowering. Then the noise, oh the noise. And those weapons, if I had those… I would be unstoppable." Otto exclaims happily as he paces around the room, talking to anyone who will listen.

"Otto, snap out of it." Sly says as he snaps his fingers. This momentarily captures the raccoon's attention.

"Right, right. But those engines!" Otto exclaims again, momentarily catching his attention then continuing his rambling ways.

"Remember your were brought here to take down your great great grandson, not for any other reason okay." Bentley says to readjust Otto out of his world but it isn't working as he gets sucked into the whirlpool of his mind.

"She was so perfect, I could be with her forever!" Otto shouts like he wants the whole world to hear. This doesn't impress anyone, Especially Bentley, Sly is uncomfortable with it but he can see the similarities between them.

"She's a backstabbing, no good traitor who has no morals or wants other than money and greed." Says a very angry Bentley.

"She was Dutch, I was Dutch, she flew planes, I flew planes, she built machines, I built machines." Otto lists their shared qualities; they match so well together in his eyes. Sly steps in and tries to cut him a deal.

"Otto, Bentley is the smartest guy I know, I'm sure he could get you some advanced technology." Sly offers.

"That's a bad idea; any changes in the past could affect the future in untold ways." Bentley whispers to Sly, but Otto is convinced and snaps out of his mood.

"I would be delighted; if I help you get back my plane can you give me some." Otto thankfully states back to them.

"Bentley would be honoured." Sly says. Bentley doesn't want to go through with this but he has to anyway, the wheels have been set in motion.

"Wunderbar! Okay what's the plan." Otto asks, wanting to get into it straight away.

"The plan is that we need to enter through the drainage system underneath the hangar is the key, so Dimitri will have to enter into the drain and place this RC car into the hangar, where we can find the plane and figure out how to get it out of there." Bentley says, planning to do more recon but Otto is focused on something else.

"That car is pitiful, I'll make a better one." Otto challenges Bentley and sets off to work.

"But it's…" Bentley starts, trying to defend his brilliance but Otto has already got a new one made. It's a hovercraft with two tiny guns mounted on the front.

"Use this." Otto commands, handing over the hovercraft.

"It's a bit…" Bentley says, trying to make himself feel superior.

"Better? Yes it is." Otto says, pleased with his own work. It isn't his best but then again, he had only 5 seconds to make something up.

"Okay, Dimitri you're up." Bentley says as he relinquishes the RC vehicle superiority to Otto.

"Time to get my Scuba on." Dimitri exclaims, he hopes that this is the opportunity that he needs to take.

**Kinderdijk Airfield, The Netherlands. 4:00pm 27 July 2013**

The gang are now parked at the edge of the canal that separates the two sides from each other. Crossing over directly like last time has become an impossibility, with security being tightened up to near paranoia levels. It is once again up to their frogman to me the person to the job on the other side. Dimitri is ready with the hovercraft in hand to get to the other side.

"I just put this baby into the hangar, and your German friend will take over." Dimitri says as he tries to explain the plan in his words.

"I'm not German! I'm Dutch." Otto corrects him. Despite his accent, he is not German, he is Dutch. He moved to Germany as there were more spoils of war in Germany to take, also Germany is renowned for it's technology and efficiency even to this day. Two qualities that Otto would no doubt want in choosing a place of residence. That's not to say he neglected his roots. He tried to stay but business takes him to other places.

"You sound German man." Dimitri says before he puts the mask on and enters the water. Otto wants to get at him for that unfortunate mistake he made.

"If I could swim I would go out there and… uh never mind." Otto says as he senses his defeat. Coopers are not renowned for being able to swim, and this one is no different. Meanwhile the gang member that can swim is making his way across the canal but has forgotten to turn off his binocucom and so can hear the conversation taking place back on land.

"Sly I need to talk to you." Bentley asks, the sound is faint but he can still hear it on the binocucom.

"Sure Bentley." Sly says.

"Are you sure you know what you are promising Otto?" Still worried about what Sly may be doing.

"Relax, I'm not giving him anything new, just what he'll invent in a months time." Sly replies back, it turns out he has thought it through more than Bentley has realised.

"Using the blueprints from the Thievius Raccoonus, that's a great idea Sly." Bentley says, realising that Sly's plan was right all along.

"I may not be as smart as you, but I'm definitely not stupid." Sly replies back.

"Hey, who are you calling Stupid?" Otto asks in the distance, overhearing the conversation.

"Not you." Sly shouts back.

"As long as it's not me." Otto warns.

"Is it me?" Dimitri asks, the swimming is not what he is focused on now, swimming is so easy it's become second nature and can do it without thinking.

"Dimitri? Oh sorry, I left this thing on." Bentley says, initially surprised that Dimitri has heard the conversation and feels embarrassed to have forgotten to turn off his binocucom. By this time Dimitri is out of the canal and wandering the drains in order to reach the one that leads to the correct hangar that contains what are the destroyed remains of Otto's plane. The musky odours of mould and grime that inhabit these drains are no matter for him; he just uses the oxygen tasks to get around that. Dimitri sees the faint streaking of light that leads to the inside of the hangar.

"I'm here." He states into the binocucom.

"Get ready." Bentley says, preparing Otto for his job. Dimitri slips in the RC hovercraft and closes the drain cover. He waits for the job to be done, he might be of use later.

"It's ready." Dimitri says, waiting for the whirring of the fans to tell him it works.

"Okay let's show Penelope how it's done." Otto says, more as to challenge her mechanical ability and not her directly, he still has feelings for her. The skirt inflates underneath the hovercraft to give it the lift it needs to move, the fans start spinning and the vehicle skates along the smooth floor. The onboard camera shows him the inside which tells him something wonderful.

"She repaired it for me. How thoughtful." Otto says, still being in love with her.

"It might not stay like that for long." Bentley adds. Sure enough, two guards come in wielding sledgehammers to bust up the plane.

"You predict the future do you?" Otto asks, not knowing what technology the future holds.

"Coincidence." Bentley rebuffs.

"Either way they will not touch my plane." Otto says, strengthening his resolve even further to keep his prized plane safe. He moves the hovercraft silently through the darkness of the hangar and takes them out with short blasts of gunfire to their ankles, rendering them immobile.

"Okay, Does anyone know how to fly but me?" Otto asks, thinking ahead to an extraction.

"I do!" Murray states. Thinking of how good he did before.

"You won't fit." Stating the obvious challenge.

"I will, just you watch." Murray insists.

"But how will you get across the channel?" Otto asks, being unable to do so himself.

"I'm a hippopotamus, I'll swim." Murray explains. As Murray runs into the water to swim across. It isn't the most graceful thing to watch but he does it and makes his way out of the canal rushing to get to the hangar. Inside, alarms ring loud as more guards fall to their knees with no ankles to support them. There are hammer blows being struck to the ground in a desperate effort to rid them of the terror towards their ankles. Murray comes in through the small door through the main doors of the hangar and is about to take on the guards when he hears a voice from below.

"Murray, let me out." Ask Dimitri through the grate.

"Dimitri?" Murray asks himself, unsure of where he is.

"Down here." Dimitri says until Murray sees it for himself He tears the grate right off and throws it across the hangar, which inadvertently takes out a guard. This makes the other guards notice his presence. He grabs Dimitri out of the drain and he goes to work on the guard with all of his strength and fighting being put to the test of onrushing guards who are either desperate or forced to fight in order to do their job.

"Now how do we get out?" Dimitri asks, he is taking out some guards but Murray is doing 90% of the work.

"In the plane of course." Murray points out.

"I can't fly that." Dimitri defends himself.

"You're the first passenger of Murrays Airways." Murray states ready to make a dash for the bi-plane parked in the corner of the hangar. He jumps in and tries to squeeze in the seat to take off but there is a small problem.

"I forgot to open the door." Murray says. Murray tries to get out to force the door open but Dimitri has already gone.

"I'll do it." He states as he rushes to the button on the side of the hangar to open the door, avoiding all of the guards that rush at him. For a big guy he is very agile and quick. Murray starts the engine and this sound sets off alarms in the plane where Penelope is situated, working on the plane and hears the primitive engine start up.

"Attention guards, I don't need this the day before the boss arrives so I'm paying double if you get rid that oversized Hippo." Penelope says over an intercom that rings out through the hangar. As the door is being opened the guards try to reach the plane to destroy it. Murray, sensing the danger has gotten out to defend the plane from yet more guards. It's like she has an entire army at her disposal. The sheer numbers are tremendous but Murray is too much for them, disposing them like trash into the bin. While Murray lays a smack down on the guards Dimitri realises something.

"This is my time to shine, Boogie time." The opportunity has presented itself and he takes it with both hands. Rushing into the plane and into the pilot's seat he goes. He tries to find the control to get it out of idle and get it to move from the spot it is now. Somehow he does it but he doesn't know how. The plane accelerates slowly forward, he takes the yoke and tries to steer it like a steering wheel but it doesn't work. The wall is impending so he tries to slam on the foot pedals like in a car but this turns the plane as he has adjusted the rudder. Murray sees the plane is moving and runs into the passenger seat as he beats up another guard.

"How do you fly this thing?" Dimitri asks, panicking about having to fly a plane.

"Foot pedals control the rudder, the yoke controls the flaps and the small lever controls power." Otto says quickly.

"I don't understand what you said but ok." Dimitri says confused but knows that he must push on. He keeps it moving down a lane next to the runway, They see a figure emerge from the main hangar, it must be Penelope. Dimitri approaches her and turns around to the runway as the back wheel strains under the weight of Murray. Penelope stands and watches, she can't do anything about it. She only wonders how those two had done it. They are such an odd combination to be flying a plan to her. She waits to see if they crash and burn from not being able to take off. Dimitri pushes the level to maximum as they exit onto the runway. The plane picks up speed but not very quickly.

"Judging from the extra weight it will be touch and go whether they take off or not." Bentley says to Otto as he watches them try to take off through his binocucom. The plane is still accelerating as they near the end of the runway where Dimitri pulls back on the yoke with all his force to lift the plane, only just, into the air. Lucky for them, only fields are at the end of the runway and not buildings or roads.

"You're a hero." Murray exclaims over the sound of rushing wind.

"We are not finished yet." Dimitri says, noting the precarious situation they are in. They are climbing but not very fast. He barely has enough altitude to turn the plane around and do a flyover for the gang. He wants to soak in this moment. This is what he wants them to remember.

"Is that Dimitri?" Sly asks, looking into his binocucom with disbelief.

"Yep." Bentley confirms as the planes engine grows louder as they approach them and zoom over into the distance.

"I don't believe it, he really is." Sly says, more to confirm to himself what he is seeing. The planes smoke trail is visible from their vantage point. Bentley is already rushing into the van to pack up his gear. Sadly for obvious reason he can't drive it, he knows how to but can't. Otto can't drive either; he can fly in the air but not drive on the ground. That leaves Sly, Carmelita and Joey. The last two are just sitting the van, keeping tabs on the lab. Joey keep looking back at Carmelita, wondering how those two got together in the first place. Such a coming together of polar opposites is beyond him, especially when it comes to both sides of the law. His staring is broken by the opening of doors and an onrushing raccoon.

"Joey, drive." Sly commands. Joey springs into action to get to the drivers seat and drives away, but not having seen the event outside, he goes in the opposite direction.

"The other way." Bentley says. Joey just handbrake turns and slams on the gas to follow the low flying plane that they are chasing from the ground. Dimitri is trying to look for a place to land, He has gotten used to flying the plane although he is not comfortable with himself yet. He thinks that if he pulls the same lever, something different might happen. Somehow he lands the plane on a road in the countryside, with the van tailing him. As the plane comes to a complete halt, Dimitri wonders how he has done it all, it all went so fast. The gang, who are in the van, rush to congratulate the two of them for getting out in the circumstances, especially Dimitri who has been waiting for the opportunity to prove himself. He really did step up when it came down to it. He wasn't going to fade away into a life of girls, drugs and TV. Or just be the guy who can Scuba and nothing else. It only showed that no one should be under estimated when their back is against the wall, that they can produce what's needed when the time arises.

Now they had the plane back, Otto is excited and joyous at having his plane restored to its former glory. It more than just got him out of his mood. He couldn't wait to fly it again. But he still wanted that tech that Sly promised. So after taking Sly's advice, Bentley gave it to him. What he didn't know is that he himself would invent these pieces in a few months anyway. So now he wasn't inventing, he was discovering. But they couldn't send Otto back in their time machine; the plane was too big to send back in our time machine. Besides, how do you get a plane into the middle of Amsterdam? They had to break into Penelope's plane again to send him back. However, Murray mentioned that he heard the boss was coming tomorrow. They might still need his plane.


	19. Chapter 18 - Going Loud

**Bentley's Lab, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. 5:32pm 27 July 2013**

They are still taking up Dimitri and his earlier efforts as they descend into the lab. It shows how much they value him now even if they didn't pay as much attention to him as before. He is more versatile than people think. Dimitri's self confidence has been given a huge boost after seeing what it can bring to him. He feels like there is a groove going on and his favourite song is on for him to get down which is all he wants really. Being misunderstood or just weird compared to everyone else is just who he is. There is no trying to change that. His ways are his ways just as they have been since that first encounter in Paris.

This hasn't done much to alleviate the problems they have. There is still a mouse running some kind of operation where the true extent is unknown to them. That still puzzles them, it is clear that she wants Bentley back since their trip to medieval England. But her other motives and resources are have come from unknown sources. What they need now is the way to find out some more details. Murray has told them about the 'boss' that Penelope said on the radio while they were in the hangar. Since they were at an airfield, it would only make sense that they would come by airplane. Bentley gets onto scanning all the flight paths of every plane in the sky now. No civilian planes and no military planes show up on his search. This means it falls into the dangerous 3rd category. Where there is an unknown secret adversary that they need to face that is pulling the strings of Penelope to get Bentley and Sly.

It seems that Penelope only wants Bentley for herself and that she isn't motivated in the same way to get Sly. She never engages with Sly directly, sending goons and his own family after him. Whereas she tries to get right at Bentley as they saw by him spinning around. Is there even a remote possibility of her going back to their side? In Bentley's mind it's 100% never going to happen while he is still in the Cooper gang. Others think about her in completely different ways. While Bentley is clearly the most hurt about her betrayal and now the most against her, Sly and Murray are quick to back him up. Carmelita is less so against her on a personal level but on a criminal level she has gotten out of jail and her capture would be a sure fire way to boost her standing and prove that she isn't corrupt. Joey doesn't know exactly why they hate her so much. So much hate directed at her and he has no clue why. He goes along with it fit in with the group. On the other side of the spectrum, Otto is still in love with her, even though he shows it less and less his happiness for his plane is seeping through his mouth in the form of a smile.

"I've got a hit, but it's not pretty." Bentley announces having completed his scan. They go up to look at the screen.

"There are no details at all about it, just that it arrives in 30 minutes." Bentley explains.

"Looks like you'll need to exercise your right foot." Sly says to Murray who already knows what he needs to do. There is no time for a plan in the lab. They rush into the van and leave as quickly as possible; time is against them.

**Motorway, The Netherlands. 5:35pm 27 July 2013**

The fast lane, the only lane for 'The Murray' to drive down. He is driving down it faster than usual with the indicators flicking on and off, telling all oppose the vans forward motion to get out of the way. Otto and Sly have already been dropped off to get the plane ready, they are going to provide aerial help with their plan. Bentley is explains that plan in the van.

"Okay, this is going to take a coordinated effort for all of us to get as much surveillance on this meet as possible. Otto and Sly have already been instructed on their duties and should be able to provide us with some extra pictures from above of the airfield; Sly is in the back taking the photos with his Binocucom. Dimitri, you'll be on the drain patrol again." Bentley explains. A small annoyance goes through Dimitri. He wanted something more.

"If its what I have to do." Dimitri replies.

"Yep, you'll get right under where they are going to walk. I'll be flying the drone over the meeting as well, we'll get pictures from every angle and figure out exactly who we are against." Bentley explains fully. As Bentley turns around, he hits a button, turning on the radio. The news, not something enjoyable to them but an important source for a thief who wants to get some high profile heists done. It's also the sure fire way to increase one's reputation.

"It's 5:37pm in Amsterdam on Radio DUT, here with the latest headlines today and ther is still no sign of 'the Murray' after his amazing semi final bout in Monaco. Pundits can only guess at the location of this rookie wrestler sensation." The presenter announces.

"It's clear that he has disappeared from the competition and we fear for his life now he has been missing for sometime."

"That was the chairman of the Wrestling Federation speaking about the disappearance of 'The Murray'." The presenter clarifies. Murray wants to tell them he is alright but knows that what they are doing is something that no one else needs to know about. "Also we'll have more on the coconut butter scandal later in the program but first. The number of high profile heists lately has increased by almost 100% in the past month, says new figures released by Interpol. They say that the notorious thief Sly Cooper has remerged after an 8-year hideout. So should we be taking measures as well? For more answers we've been delighted to have the director of Interpol join us on the line for an exclusive Interview. Director thanks for your time.

"It's my pleasure." The director says on a phone line. That voice only makes Carmelita angry, that director has done nothing but ruin everything after his appointment when Chief Barkley decided that chasing after criminals was doing his head in and needed an early retirement.

"So how can you be so sure that the disappearance of one thief is the answer? Surely he isn't that influential in the underworld?" The presenter asks.

"He is a menace to society, stealing anything valuable that hard working people have earned. I assure you we are working around the clock to find him and have set up a task force to locate this notorious thief and bring him to justice." The Director states with pure anger towards Sly.

"Okay then, you seem very angry at him in particular, is there any other possible cause?" The presenter asks.

"What makes him so dangerous is that he is unlike any other thief. I don't know how but he's just much harder to catch than every other criminal. Destabilising governments is easier than going after Sly Cooper, but there's been a development. From our intelligence gathering activities, we know that he managed to corrupt a police officer and we believe she is working with him right now." The director states again.

"A she? I know all these things are classified but is it Carmelita Fox?" The presenter asks in hope of a major scoop.

"She has been doing great work for us lately but it seems she has gone to the 'dark side' so to say." The Director jokes.

"Are you confirming this right now." The presenter asks again, amazed at his candid response.

"Yes, and if anyone sees Sly Cooper or Carmelita Fox, they can contact us on the website, phone, email, snail mail, even a telegram. Any and all information is needed to help us capture them. We are also starting a media campaign where we will update the public with the situation. We just have one message for the public, look up. He gets around on the rooftops so if you look up you might see him and call us to finish him off." The Director explains.

"Can you give some more details about him?" The presenter asks, trying to coerce the Pandora's box into opening.

"I'm sorry I don't have time to explain, I've got a meeting to go to, you'll hear it all on the ads." The director says as he cuts out. The gang are stunned. They are half glad that Sly didn't have to hear it now, as he would be devastated. The loud approach is what they do not want, since their activities are all based on stealth and secrecy. Telling everyone all the information about him wouldn't be doing him any more favours apart from raising his reputation from #1 thief to worldwide infamous celebrity #1 thief on the run. It feels like in some way that their cloak of secrecy has been lifted from them, they feel naked without it.

What this is a scare campaign against Sly. Sure he has been adorned on the fronts of newspapers, undoubtedly after one of his big heists. But this is something else. This is going to be different. The gang hasn't met such a tactic before, trying to expose someone by dumping masses of information on the airwaves for people to gobble up. No doubt this kind of interview will make it onto the much larger news networks around the world. He will be headline news for today, which is exactly what he didn't want for that 8-year period with Carmelita. That period gave him time to slow down and stop being a thief for a long while. He got to see what it was like on the other side of the law, more in a symbolic sense than anything else. In the black and white world of the police, Sly is a thief, and thieves get punished. But in that grey area which Sly inhabits, the area where there is a blend of good and bad. It is what he has been trying to show Carmelita for all of these years. They are not so different, they want the same things. They just do it in different ways.


	20. Chapter 19 - Listen Up

**Kinderdijk Airfield, The Netherlands. 27 July 2013**

The two raccoons flying through the air see the long black strip of tarmac on the ground, indicating the airfield. But what they see also is a set of bright lights in the distance, the lights of the incoming jet. For all the zoom capabilities of the binocucom, Sly can't see what the plane exactly is but he knows it is small, a private jet perhaps. Sly can see the van parked below on the opposite side of the canal, somehow Murray's lead foot is faster than a plane going as the crow flies. The bi-plane is circling around the airfield, trying to get in position for the impending meeting. As they do this, Otto spots the plane for himself and can't see any propellers on it.

"How is that flying?" Otto asks.

"Jet engines, better than propellers." Sly says. This only gives a face of intense want on Otto.

"Oh I want them." Otto exclaims, another item to add to his wish-list of future technology. Sadly, for him, he's not getting his hands on them anytime soon. More waiting and watching is done until the smoke of tires hitting the ground displays the full extent of the plane. It is just a normal private jet, no markings, and no identifiers. Seems like someone else wants to keep in anonymity. From the sky they see the small drone Bentley has in the air take off, after that it assimilates itself with the backdrop of the sky behind it, making it effectively invisible. Sly tunes into the chatter on the ground.

"Can you hear anything?" Bentley asks to Dimitri, it seems he's really close to the plane which is on the runway with it's engines rumbling still.

"I can't hear you." Dimitri replies. The sound from above drowns him out. They see the plane's engines power down and the door opens up for someone to get in, no one comes out and no one comes in. They see no one approaching the plane from one of the hangars. Maybe Penelope is late but that's not something that would usually happen. Still the gang and their vehicles try to keep an eye out for anything, expecting something. But nothing happens.

"I hear footsteps." Dimitri announces. The gang seem sceptical; there is no one above him or near him.

"No one is out there." Bentley affirms. Dimitri thinks he's hearing things, he trusts Bentley's advice because he is the smart one. But still the small but sure footsteps approach the plane.

"They are getting closer." Dimitri says. Bentley changes the mode of the camera of the drone, fearing the worst. Sure enough, a red silhouette of Penelope's body heat shows up as she casually walks to the planes staircase.

"Oh god." Bentley says to himself. "Switch to thermovision." Bentley says to Sly on the radio. Sly does what he says and sees it with his own eyes. The radio connection between them is silent, telling Bentley that he is in as much surprise as he is.

"But that can't be?" Sly asks back.

"There was another reason she went to Egypt." Bentley alludes.

"But how could she learn that? The shadow power? I mean she's not a Cooper." Sly say as he tries to fight the reality that he saw. They see her walk up the stairs of the jet. She stops and looks around frantically, as if something has just happened.

"Do you notice the bug I put on her while she climbed up the plane?" Dimitri exclaims, almost expecting praise for what he has done. Bentley zooms in to get a closer look of the bug but he becomes uncomfortable zooming in that close to his ex-girlfriend.

"But you didn't carry a bug." Bentley wonders.

"I'm just that prepared." Dimitri says confidently, a new confidence is flowing through him. Now that they can get sound of the meet, they can hear the conversation from the outside. The thermovision reveals the interior layout, a table with 8 chairs around it, 7 of them are occupied. Only the one chair at the head facing the cockpit is vacant, one for a mouse. Bentley is running frantic cross checks on the silhouettes on the table as the conversation starts.

"I'm here." Penelope says over the bug. All the people sitting at the table are surprised at the sound, they jolt up in their seats, the adrenaline rush wanting them to fight or flee but the brain says to stay.

"I don't believe it." A voice says replies back from the head of the table. They all connect the dots now. It was only the beginning.

"Wonderful, isn't it?" She says back.

"How is your task going?" The director asks.

"6 of them are done, just the one left." Penelope says, giving the status report.

"The European target." He says with a hint of anger.

"Yes sir." Penelope affirms, she seems less involved with this plan than the director

"And what is taking so long? I just made the radio speech and now you gotta deliver me the results!" He shouts. Others in their comfy chairs start to sink back into the seat backs, trying to fade out of the environment, not wanting to participate in this conversation.

"It's just…" Penelope starts.

"It's just this, it's just that. What kind of fool do you take me for?! I want no excuses, I won't give you those defence contracts unless the entire job is completed! I want that Raccoon on this table when I arrive back here or you will be the one on the table!" He shouts angrily across the table.

"But you need to give me something upfront now." Penelope asks, knowing she has them on a string. No matter how much the situation looks against her

"No Sly, no money." He says. Furious that she even would even have the cheek to ask.

"Give me half now, the next half when you return." She says.

"That's preposterous, no deal. Did you even listen to what I said?" He shouts, it's more just building him up, inflating his balloon of anger and she's ready with the pin.

"Well, you can say goodbye to my technology." Penelope says as she half turns to leave but knows they will not let her go.

"No, please stop." He begs. The balloon has burst spectacularly.

"So the first half now." She says, expecting him to say yes.

"Get the transfer done." He agrees. She always gets her way with them. An assistant comes over to her with a laptop with a bank transfer prepared. All she does is input the codes and bam, the money is hers.

"Just one more thing before you go." The director asks. Penelope turns to hear what he has to say.

"I'm sure you are aware that one of our 'best agents' has escaped and is on the run. If you bring her as well, I'm sure we can make it worth your while." He says, making it painfully clear who he means, stressing every single identifier.

"Carmelita Fox? I'd be happy to do that. In fact, she is the key to the target." Penelope says.

"Just don't disappoint us when we return." He warns. But she has already walked out of the plane. She walks of by herself towards the canal as the doors of the plane retract and the plane moves off to take off again.

"They're going after Carmelita!" Sly shouts at the radio to Bentley who is transfixed on the mouse walking towards them, it doesn't seem like she's seen them though.

"Carmelita!" Bentley shouts towards the van but the van is not there. How could he miss something like that? Surely the engine would break that concentration but when one is completely concentrated on something, they tend to miss the other things going on around them.

"How did I miss that? Someone stole the van!" Bentley replies back to Sly.

"What?" Sly asks. He is confused at how the van could go missing as well.

"Can you see it?" Bentley asks. Sly has the height advantage here as he scans across the land to find any trace of it, to the south east he zooms in to see the van being driven away at high speed down narrow country roads.

"Follow that van." Sly commands to Otto, who breaks out of his holding pattern and revs up the engine for a high-speed pursuit in the air. While Murray could outrun the plane, this thief can't drive as fast, no one can drive that van as fast as 'The Murray'.

Meanwhile, on the ground, Bentley is left stranded by himself on the small grass patch on the other side of the canal. He tries to look around for any ambush but none comes, it's hard expecting something all the time and to have nothing happening.

"Hello Bentley." Penelope says, emphasising the B in Bentley. Bentley quickly turns around, half scared on the inside but he is putting on a brave face on the outside. Trying to prove once again that he is the superior one.

"You just want military contracts and money. Is that what it is all about?" Bentley asks in desperation, trying to find answer.

"It helps, but when you have as much money as I do." She says as she takes the bug that was fired into her earlier and holds it out for Bentley to see. "You can get away with certain things." Bentley tries to fire his bombs, arms and darts all at the same time to finish her now. But none of that is working. Only a small beeping coming from a small device clipped onto her long orange pants tells her what a feeble attempt this is. He should really know better.

"I knew you were smart, but then again you're cute when you're dumb." Penelope taunts as she walks around the stationary wheelchair. Slowly she edges the wheelchair towards the edge of the canal, is she going to do the unthinkable? Bentley's heart is pumping hard from the nervousness, but he's trying to prepare himself for an underwater date. All those things he'd want to tell them, so many secrets. In a twist of fate, she snatches Bentley from the chair and pushes it into the river, the electrical discharge going into the water makes the surrounding water turn electric blue. The fizzling and whizzing of the electric parts that have been crafted and finessed into a perfect tool for a discerned turtle with no use for his legs. But what he sees defies him. The chair rises from out of the river like it's rising to heaven. Penelope can't believe it either. For all her research, she never though that it should still fly after a dunk in the drink. But it all becomes clear as one Scuba crazed iguana lifts the chair out of the canal and plonks it on the side next to Bentley. Dimitri's eyes are locked onto Penelope's. Another chance for some desperate glory, the first taste has got him hooked

"You are so lucky. You know that right." Penelope says, venting her frustration, this wasn't going as planned.

"You won't get away with that." Bentley says as he heaves after his near death experience.

"Dimitri won't be around next time." Penelope warns to Bentley.

"Maybe you won't be either." Dimitri retorts.

* * *

**Aug 10 2013: I have just completed Band of thieves and am onto the Honour among Thieves. Once that is done my full Sly Cooper education will be complete. Also i am getting near the point where i am not transferring my script over anymore. It means two things; that the story may take longer to write, and i don't know exactly what is going to happen next, this is where you guys come in. I would appreciate any ideas that you have for this story, i have a an idea of what is going to happen next but i would like some details from you guys to personalise it a bit. It's just my way to say thanks to all who have read the story this far and i hope you keep going.**


	21. Chapter 20 - Our Darkest Hour

**15 kilometres away. 20 minutes ago.**

The plane goes into a dive as the two raccoons charge towards the van, Otto is timing is dive to perfection as he inverts his plane for Sly's entry. The plane is flying upside down above the van as Sly jumps out and lands on the roof of the van. Otto flies away to get back from the van. Sly peaks into the window and sees the driver, it is not Murray, and desperate for some snack but it is the Mexican thief. She is concentrating on the road ahead, not noticing the set of eyes peaking on the inside. Sly is not going to let her take Carmelita away for whatever crazed purpose she may be doing. Sly, in one swift move, swings into the cabin and kicks out the thief from the van, leaving her to be tumbling and turning on the fields beside the road. Sly stops the van as quick as he can so he can see the damage. Sly rushes out of the van, worried sick about Carmelita. He opens the back doors, and sees the drugged Joey and Murray in the back with Carmelita chained to Murray, he is as good as an immovable object you could get in the van right now.

"Sly!" Carmelita shouts, almost being trapped under one of Murray's arms.

"Carmelita!" Sly shouts as he undoes the crude rope knots and sets her free. They exchange a long hug together; they won't get such privacy for long now, especially after that the whole world knows about them now.

"She took me away, drugged them and kept taking about these things in Mexico I've never heard of." Carmelita says to Sly, quickly explaining the situation. She is a very good liar. But she doesn't think Sly notices, or maybe he just wants to help her out that he is willing to keep this thing secret.

"It's ok. She's gone now. But how are you?" Sly asks.

"I don't know what it is, I feel different, changed. I feel like none of this is important anymore." Carmelita says to Sly.

"I'm important to you. Your job is important, and i will get that back for you." Sly says, but he doesn't fully understand her meaning.

"It's not that, it's just." She says as she looks down at her belly. Sly sees why now. He never contemplated what thing would be like raising a child. He has no one to ask and no one to help him. But those thoughts are for later. They hear the groaning and shouting of the Mexican thief as she stumbles and limps towards them, still clinging onto whatever hope she has.

"Not her again." Sly jokes annoyingly to Carmelita.

"Don't go with them Carmelita!" She shouts while still trying to approach them.

"I've got this." Sly says as he walks slowly and casually over to the limping fox and readies his cane like he's wielding a baseball bat over his shoulder.

"Out of my way Raccoon!" She tries to shout as Sly swings his cane and trips her up. Her face hits the pavement and creates a large cracking sound of skull, which is heard by all. Sly just tries to move the body away from the road so no one finds it. He tosses it into a ditch covered in reeds for the maggots to dispose of. It's one of the more raw things he has done, he takes a moment to look at the bloodied and bruised thief, half covered in water and plant matter. Carmelita just sees Sly looking down into the ditch. All these things he does for her, for love.

"Now she's gone, you won't have to deal with her anymore." Sly explains, like it was only a small favour for him. Carmelita doesn't know what to think. While she is grateful, she thinks it is slightly excessive to rid one from the earth for another. Sly would do it again and again if someone hurt her or did anything against her. It's just his way. Sly tries to get into the drivers seat but Carmelita beats him to it. Sly is happy for her, she's got some spark back into her, the fieriness that defines her normal character which sits in front of this one which only Sly can really get a long enough look into. She drives off back to pick up Bentley expecting the job to be done.

"That was very brutal of you." Otto says into Sly's earpiece, he saw the whole thing from above."

"It had to be done." Sly responds.

"I've never seen someone do such a thing for love before." Otto adds.

"You don't know the feeling." Sly says, looking back at his girlfriend.

"Oh yes I do, that mouse shall be mine. She's just like me!"

_It clicks._

Once they do arrive back at the canal, they can only see Bentley, sitting in his wheel chair looking at something in the water. Carmelita stops the van and Sly approaches with caution. Bentley doesn't look back at him as he is still focused on the object in the water. Sly follows the eye line of Bentley to the body of Dimitri floating face down in the canal, slowly being carried down the stream. Sly walks slowly up to Bentley, still wondering about what he missed here.

"Bentley." Sly says hushly as he squats down to be at Bentley's height. Bentley is still silent as Sly turns to him and looks at his face, no tears roll down the green skin of Bentley but he is sad.

"Are you okay?" Sly asks him softly, handling the delicate moment.

"She got him." Bentley says as he puts his energy into lifting his arm to point at the floating body. Sly looks out again, no anger is shown; the sadness that they have lost one of their own smothers that petty emotion of hate.

"I couldn't stop her." Bentley says, forcing it out of himself. He is disappointed with himself but Sly is compassionate and empathetic towards him.

"It's not your fault." Sly says back, trying to reassure his best friend.

"I'm sorry Sly." Bentley says, close to bawling his eyes out but he is trying furiously to hold it in. Sly only offers more help, rubbing slowly the back of his shell. It is all he can do himself, Sly is even feeling sad but he is much more practised in the art of pulling on a mask that will keep one's face in one emotion while many more are happening below the surface. Bentley hangs his head low, in respect of what has happened.

"I know, I know." Sly slowly says with break in between as he to looks at the floating iguana and bows his head. Carmelita doesn't dare break this moment, she can see everything from the van. She will wait as long as she has to for them to walk the 20 meters to the van; it's what he would do for her. Joey and Murray are awake after 10 minutes and still the pair of them are both stationary at the body in the canal, sitting together. It is a still moment; she doesn't want to have to tell them what has happened here. Nothing shall break the perfect silence of the air.

**Obituary for an Iguana (As said by Sly Cooper)**

Today was a dark day for our gang, Dimitri, Art forger, celebrity Scuba diver and valued member of our gang succumbed the hands of Penelope. He was at his peak; it was like nothing could stop him. But I guess all good things come to an end, but not like this. He's now where he would want to be, in the water. It was his domain, one where we fear to tread. His style was, different. His speech was quirky, but it was his way. His way. I couldn't think about much else, we all didn't think about much else. No one could get past the fact we lost a good person, no matter how bad they once were. But we would only get stronger.

**Bentley's Lab, 6:47pm 27****th**** July 2013**

The mood is sombre, not a word passes through the completely still atmosphere in the lab, no one wanting to disturb it out of respect. Bentley however is still working behind it all, he has a backup wheelchair which is identical to his normal one, he was prepared in case something like that happened. He is always prepared. Sly just sees him and watches, turning his head to the turtle who works quickly but under it all, it seems like he's trying to hold his emotions in. It was a traumatic experience for him, being so close to death like that. He didn't think Penelope would even have it in her; maybe that's why he is still alive now.

He moves off from the table with a pair of scissors Otto. He sneaks up to him and gently snips off a tiny amount of his fur, the cut is seamless, he will never feel anything. What Bentley is doing with the lock of fur is a mystery to Sly, who is motionless, watching his friend working. It is mesmerising to him do this with the intent he has now, just the sheep pace he does it all is amazing for Sly to contemplate. Sly is pretty quick himself but at computers and technology he has never seen anyone quicker, except Otto from before. Bentley types away on the computer, running programs with the peripheral machines attached. A readout is given; Bentley tries to hide it and turns around just to make sure no one saw it. He doesn't seem like anyone saw what he just saw. He hides the screen from view and pushes away from the table. He slowly makes his way to Sly to tell him this news. This was going to be either two things, important or bad. It turned out it was both.

"Could you come over here for a second?" Bentley whispers into Sly's ear, Sly bends down to hear it. Bentley wheels his chair slowly over to an empty room that Sly follows him into. Sly shuts the door and the motion sensitive light turns on. Bentley is facing the opposite wall, trying to hide himself from Sly.

"Sly, you know how Penelope has been into the Thievius Raccoonus and learnt all your families tricks?" Bentley asks, still facing the wall.

"Yeah." Sly replies back, unsure of where this is going.

"And you know how Penelope was able to do those moves?" Bentley adds.

"Are you sure about that? I mean…" Sly says, trying to prove otherwise. But he has misread what is coming next.

"I did some DNA matching, by comparing the DNA of Penelope, Otto and you, I made quite a… a." The words choke in Bentley's mouth, unable to reach the exit. He can't tell Sly what he knows now, and even about the radio broadcast by the director of Interpol. So much information that could wreak untold havoc with this raccoon who, with two strikes of his cane can make a person cease to exist.

"Bentley, just tell what it is, I'm sure I can handle it." Sly says in his usual reassuring way, he always talks like this just before a heist, like nothing could possibly go wrong.

"I know this will sound unfathomable at first, but that's what these tests keep showing and I, I don't want to think it's true. But I can't disagree with the evidence." Bentley explains, still struggling with the words. The silence is palpable; it hangs low and slow, not doing much, just hanging there. Sly is preparing himself for the many different permutations that could come out of Bentley's mouth. The one that does eventually follow is not one that he could be thinking of.

"Penelope...

is…

related."


	22. Chapter 21 - Bizarre Cooper Triangle

It feels so wrong to suggest it. Even more to say it is true but the results constantly point to a match. It's not a full match to Sly, but it is a direct match to Otto. It's what prompted Bentley to attempt this undertaking, all of the similarities between Otto and Penelope constantly being bellowed out by a raccoon in love. Personalities can be the same and they have the same interests, so maybe it could be even more than that. Penelope had never talked about her family history, not much was known about it either, and the only thing they thought of her past was that she was rich. How else could she afford to keep her passion for aeroplanes and fund the ACES competition every year? Connecting the dots begins in their minds. Trying to make themselves believe that is true.

In a few seconds following things go through Sly's head. The initial reaction is rejection; all of his family's history is in the Thievius Raccoonus. If she were truly a Cooper, he would know about it. And if she is, why hide it from everyone? Maybe it was a one-night stand that went all the way. Everyone in the Cooper line was a raccoon, maybe Otto was afraid of what might happen to his standing, the past is what this family is remembered by, and when you have the pen that writes it, you can choose what to put write down. The second is to try to find a way around the rejection, Bentley is his best friend and much smarter than he will ever be, he has to have a certain degree of trust in what he says. Bentley isn't one for practical jokes on such a personal level. He doesn't go after that cheap of a laugh.

"It explains the similarities between them, their love for flying and gadgets, how Penelope can learn your families abilities." Bentley tries to explain out loud to Sly, who is also doing the same but in his head. The shock still ripples through his body like a tidal wave to a rowing boat. All emotions go through him at the same time, all of them taking their turns to shape the course of the next few seconds. The internal control over Sly is gone; he has gone back to being the primeval and instinctive being he was in Egypt.

"Bentley." Sly says, a small sniffle sneaks out of his mouth like he would do on any rooftop. A brick leaves the dam of tears susceptible to breaking. Sly takes a step back like he's just been pushed. He can't recover and falls over. It is embarrassing for himself to fall over like this when he can routinely stand on points and run across wires like it's childsplay. But embarrassment is not what he is thinking; it is similar to what Otto was feeling before. Bentley tries to move him but he has collapsed and doesn't move. It is the second collapsed raccoon for the day; they keep dropping like flies when subjected to immense mental changes. The mind is what controls the body, no matter how strong and fit the body; the mind is the master of it all.

"Sly?" Bentley says as he leaps out of his wheelchair to get close enough to his chest. He feels for vitals, they are alright, he is not dead, what a sigh of relief. The cane is resting awkwardly under his body, Bentley gets it to move from under him but the hand it is attached to will not let go. This is amazing. Coopers have learned to control themselves whilst unconscious. No matter how hard Bentley pulls, the hand will not loosen it's grip. Bentley looks around for anything to help him, he dare not go outside, they won't cope with another motionless body in such a short space of time. He thinks back to the incident in the prison, trying to see how Sly got up in the first place. That's what he needs to do. He drags himself back into his wheelchair and loads up a sound, the sound of footsteps getting closer. One eye opens up on Sly and he jumps back up and points the cane at Bentley, ready to strike the intruder he thinks is coming towards him. Bentley draws his head back into his shell to avoid it. Sly realises who it is and what he has just done, he is better prepared now this experience has happened. Sly remembers what has happened just before an continues like nothing happened.

"She's not a Cooper." Sly leaks out of his mouth, dismissing the possibility.

"Maybe not a full blood Cooper, she would be about 1/32 or 1/16 Cooper depending on which woman had the child." Bentley corrects.

"She isn't even a Raccoon." Sly says dismissively, desperately fishing for a reason to reject Bentley's claims.

"I know, but that's the truth, I don't know what else to tell you Sly." Bentley states, worried at how he has affected Sly.

"It's not that Bentley. You haven't done anything wrong, it's just I don't want it to be this way." Sly says, allowing a little acceptance to the situation, but he still doesn't believe it. Bentley goes on to deliver one of his better pep talks.

"Life is full of surprises. If there weren't any surprises it would be a boring life we all had. You wouldn't be where you are right now. I know not all surprises are good and go your way but we keep going. Look at me. I've had many different surprises. Do you think I would be the same if I weren't in a wheelchair, if I didn't have backstabbing girlfriend, if I didn't meet you?" That last one really hits Sly, he understands the logic behind it. Sly can't think of the possibility of never meeting Bentley and Murray. Being a lone thief is so, lonely. He wonders how Joey does it.

"Everyone has these days. We didn't stop once you disappeared; we kept going. Hell, we even got better. We bounced back and now you are going to do the same." Bentley says, putting an arm around his waist. This talk has really lifted Sly out of his mood, he is forever grateful.

"Thanks Bentley, You're a true friend." Sly says as he is about to walk out of the room.

"I'm just being myself." Bentley states. History won't record these kinds of small interactions that have a profound impact on someone. The world may be hearing about all of Sly's thefts and the price on his head. However, it is on the inside like this where we see the inner workings of a thief. No one outside of this gang knows about his compassion, love and his honour. The world is being fed lies that shall grow into an uproar when the spark is lit. Sly doesn't even know about it yet, If Sly was still here Bentley would explain it to him as well, he decides the Sly needs some time to himself, time to think it over, time to acclimatise to the new world around him. Bentley peaks out of the room, the gang has all disappeared from sight, only Sly is there, looking through the Theivius Raccoonus for answers. Bentley has read the book as well, he knows there is nothing that he has seen that shows another hidden ancestor. Maybe it is something that only a Cooper could fully understand.

Meanwhile, Sly's head is racing at the same speed that Sly is turning the pages. "Nothing, absolutely nothing in here about another ancestor. Nothing about Otto van Cooper having another child. But how can this be? She isn't a raccoon!" Sly thinks as he shuts the book and replaces it to it's pedestal, he then goes over to the other Cooper artefact, his old cane_. "_No matter how true Bentley says it is, I try to refuse to even give in to that thought, but I can't." Sly compares the two canes. "Like these two canes, one represents my past, everything that they know and did, everything that I knew. This new one is the now, the present, where I am right now. I guess what is new can also be good. But I struggle to think of any good that could come from this." Sly thinks as he turns away from the cane. Bentley sees Sly walk away, still looking confused. But he picks something up in the air, it is a smell, the smell makes him feel warm inside, like Carmelita herself is giving him a hug. It is the smell of BBQ pork ribs, more of Murray's cooking. That's where they all went, to get some food. No complicated answer is needed. The raw simplicity of it is, in itself, confounding and more difficult to accept. Just like the simple truth that Sly is trying to wrap himself around.

The ribs are all around the table for all to see, the steam rises off the perfectly char grilled ribs with the BBQ sauce slowly rolling down their curved edges, making for a delectable treat that would be more than acceptable in all restaurants. The others start to dig in as Sly arrives. He looks around expecting some sort of reaction to his late arrival but they don't know the significance of what happened just before. Bentley rolls on by Sly and gets into the food himself, it will help him get over what has just happened. Sly sits down himself, still looking around at the faces of the gang who are looking down at the food in front of them, their hands race to take whats left of the shared plate between them. The taking makes a small mockery of Sly, who barely touches his plate. The smell is ever inviting but he doesn't want any food, he wants answers.

"Oh Sly, Didn't see you there." Murray states as he returns from cooking another set of ribs from the grill. It is typical of Sly to sneak into settings like this; it's what he does best. But Murray spots his empty plate, untouched by the messiness of the sauce and the bones of the ribs. Murrays walks over to Sly's spot and dumps some ribs on his plate.

"Here you go Sly. Food always makes me better." Murray remarks as he puts the rest in the centre for the others to share. Sly takes glance at the food again, the smell interacting with the receptors in his nose to release a chemical concoction that causes him to dig in for himself. As the meat is hastily consumed, Sly does feel better about himself, even a few jokes are passed across this table. They laugh and eat as the night goes past, more food is brought out and they continue with their ways. Still joking and talking like its just another night in. They all feel so relaxed now, all that constant uprightness is not their style. As they keep talking, someone lets it slip and Sly breaks from his happy mood.

"You must be joking." Sly says across the table to Joey. The wallaby grabs out a phone and loads up the speech. Sly gets to hear it all; the threats to him, the things that the director says. He had no idea that this was doing all this while he was in the air.

"If this guy wants to get me, he'll have to drag me kicking and screaming." Sly challenges. The gang unite behind that, no way is Sly going to be caught without putting up one of the most committed and ferocious fights possible. He is unstoppable with his gang with him. Bentley turns to one of the more pressing issues at hand.

"Penelope said that the boss would be returning tomorrow morning in order to get Sly. If Penelope doesn't have you, then she won't get her payday or contracts, it solves the problem for us." Bentley explains. It is simple what they have to do next. "All we have to do is stay here and wait. We prepare for her almost certain attack and capture that mouse. I would like to ask her a few questions." Bentley schemes as he thinks of all the ways to get back at her. She may have newly discovered origins but that doesn't take away from anything she did before in Bentley's mind.

They conclude their eating and get set to barricade the already secure laboratory, Bentley gets the armoured doors down. They can withstand and nuclear explosion, either from the outside or inside in case of an experiment gone very wrong. Joey goes through the entire vent system arming them with laser guards, Murray prepares his fists and Carmelita prepares her shock pistol. Sly however, isn't doing anything like that, he is just thinking how he would break the news to her. Sitting on a couch, flicking through the news channels, the only face being himself on every station. He even gets to watch a documentary about himself. This lightens him up a bit for two reasons. He gets to re-live all of his old heists and secondly he laughs at how inaccurate some of the parts are.

As the night wares on, they get restless, they start to loose their concentration little by little. They try to keep watch but doing that for constant hours is boring and monotonous. The hours keep passing as the 27th turns into the 28th. Slowly, they all start to nod off, they were used to these very late stakeouts early in their career but now they have a more 'normal' sleeping pattern. Even the eyes of Sly close momentarily; this is broken by the sound of a ping on the ground. His ears prick up and he looks at the bouncing object that has landed in front of him. No time to see what this is as he dives behind the couch he was napping on. The explosion rips around him, not of flying shrapnel, but smoke. It fills the area around Sly, he calls out to the gang.

"She's here!" He shouts to anyone in hope of waking them up. They all come rushing to the smoke; they can't see anything, not even Sly. The smoke dissipates as Bentley turns on the fans to suck the smoke out. It reveals a rope attached to the ceiling and Penelope beside it.

"Hi, I'm just…"

"Don't say it!" Bentley shouts.

"Dropping in." Penelope states, the gang face palms on the inside at such a bad joke. Sly tries to take the initiative on Penelope and take a swing at her, briefly forgetting what he has been told about her. This turns out badly as she reverses the attack and takes his cane away. Sly is surprised at her skills; the cane looks more like a staff to Penelope. She inspects this new cane.

"Nice cane, it's certainly better than that stupid wooden one." Penelope remarks. That really touches a nerve, all his ancestors had their canes stolen and now he has his taken twice by the same person.

"This will make a great souvenir of your capture." Penelope taunts. The others in the gang are ready to fight, 6 on 1, how hard can it be? But Sly holds them back, he doesn't want to win unfairly despite it being on such a personal level.

"If you want to get me, come get me. Stop talking and fight." Sly says as he prepares himself for a fight without his cane. This reminds him of their fight in Holland when Penelope was still masquerading as the Black Baron. Except this time, Sly will have to use his 'fisticuffs' and Penelope holds the cane. They start quickly, the others seeing the blur of fighting in front of them. Even though Penelope is too short for the cane, she uses it proficiently as if she's had one forever. The reach that it gives Penelope is a game changer, the length of Sly's arms is not enough to connect. They dodge and parry eachothers attacks. The fight is turning into a stalemate. It is too even, they can see Sly's shoulders sagging from all the stress and failed punches. Penelope is also tired and breathing heavily. They still circle, desperately throwing more punches that never connect to their target. Bentley decides to step in, taking the opportunity that is in front of him. He takes out one of his sleep darts from the dart gun and quickly injects the serum into Penelope when she comes past. Sly doesn't see the deception as it looks like Penelope has become so tired that she has collapsed. She lies asleep, unable to move. Sly looks at her on the ground and picks up his cane.

Bentley gets moving to put her in a very secure room before she wakes up. He has to pick her up with his robotic arms in the chair. Bentley doesn't even dare to look at her, his face is dead straight, looking for the most secure room to put her in. Eventually he puts her inside her old room. The gang slowly walk over to Bentley to see him furiously working on the fortifications. He's moving in lasers, heavy machinery and bobby traps around all possible points of escape. To the gang, Bentley looks like he is possessed by his hate for her. The sheer determination is making them feel awkward, they don't exactly want this. Sure, they got her, but this is another level. Otto tries to force his way in.

"Please, let me in with her!" Otto shouts as he bangs on the door. He will never break down the huge door that has been converted from an industrial safe. There is no reply from Bentley though. He works just as hard to even further modify the fortifications to paranoia levels. Once he is done, he turns to the gang.

"That should be enough. Don't you think?" Bentley asks. Laser cannons, laser grids not even an ant could pass through, bomb traps and electric shock cannons are some of the items stationed outside of this one room. Bentley just wheels away from them all, going back into his room. No one chases after him for an explanation. There is just the silence of them wondering about what has gone through Bentley's mind. One by one they walk slowly for some sleep. Only the two raccoons remain. Otto gets to work, trying to open the door; his ear is pressed against the door, hearing for the clicks that can unlock this beast. Sly knows that it is fruitless; the door has an electromagnetic lock. No moving parts mean no clicking. He admires his determination, the things some people do for love and the things that some people do for retribution.


	23. Chapter 22 - Who do you think you are?

**Bentley's Lab, 5:43am 28****th**** July 2013**

Sly can't sleep. After what he has been through yesterday, it is no wonder why sleep continues to desert him. He's tossed and turned in bed, Carmelita, who is sleeping on the other side of the bed, doesn't feel anything because she has absolutely crashed. Sly goes over to the source of his discomfort. The heavily locked down room has not been left by Otto, who is sleeping at the foot of the door, wanting to be as close to her as possible. Sly takes control of the surveillance system for the room, a small monitor is revealed from inside the wall as Sly inputs some commands on a keypad. It shows the 'cell' from various cameras placed in the cell. Penelope is fast asleep on the ground. A small microphone juts out from the wall to allow for communication. Sly presses and holds the button to turn it on.

"Wake up." Sly whispers into the microphone. She doesn't move at first, he waits a little longer, wanting a response.

"Yeah." Penelope groggily replies. Still drugged from the sleeping dart.

"Hi." Sly awkwardly greets her. It's the only thing he can think of to say at this moment, he tries to be friendly.

"Hello yourself." She says, picking herself off the ground, trying to find the speakers in the room. There is a short pause.

"It's almost 6am." Sly says. He is not the best with small talk.

"What day is it?" She asks.

"Uh, it's the same one." Sly replies back.

"You know what I'm going to say next, right?" She asks.

"That you're sorry and you want to make it up to us." Sly answers.

"Nope, well, maybe a little bit." Penelope corrects him.

"Well then, what are you going to say?" Sly asks, wanting to know what she has to say.

"That you might not be existing soon if you don't let me out." Penelope says confidently to Sly. Sly thinks it's complete bull.

"You may be smarter, but I know when my hands and feet are still there." Sly remarks.

"Seriously, you need to let me out now or you will cease to exist by the end of the day." Penelope explains quickly to Sly.

"That's just crazy, you'll have to convince Bentley first." Sly warns knowing that Bentley is the only one that can open the door.

"Go wake him up now." She commands. Acting like she's extremely worried with herself.

"Listen, what you did to my family and my friends was unforgivable. I have no reason at all to let you out. In fact I should add in some devices for myself but I don't. Do you want me to tell you why?" Sly tempts the mouse.

"No." She replies back, expecting to hear some hateful response back.

"Good, because I'm going to show you." Sly states. "I'll be right back." He says as he sneaks around the lab, the lights turn on automatically so really there is no point. Anyone looking at him will see his silhouette illuminated by the overhead LED lights. He goes over to Bentley's desk and grabs a few items from it and returns with a crate full of goods. Somehow, Otto is still asleep at the foot of the door.

"I'm going to perform an experiment." Sly says to Penelope, turning on an overhead camera above a small bench beside the computer. The back wall is illuminated in Penelope's room; one of the walls is actually a screen.

"On what?" Penelope asks.

"You'll see." Sly says, quietly confident of completely blowing her off her feet with this revelation of his. He takes out the machine that Bentley was using before, It looks like a sandwich press. He places it on the bench and opens it up. On the screen, Sly's hands work quickly to assemble the machine.

"Are you making me a toasted sandwich?" Penelope asks. "It's not beyond you to do that." Sly then takes out the hair samples of Penelope, Otto and himself. Penelope sits silently knowing what he is trying to do.

"Now if I put these into here, and push this down. Turn the knob to on. Make sure it is securely fastened. It should be ready to go." Sly states, trying to figure out how to use this machine he has gathered up. Penelope knows it's a DNA matcher and she knows whose hair is in the device. The matcher pings and prints out the result. Sly takes the print out and turns it to face the camera, expecting to hear some sort of shock from Penelope. But nothing visible eventuates from her face.

"What do you think about that now?" Sly says, like he wants to get it off his chest.

"I believe you." Those three words are the last thing Sly expected from her mouth.

"But… but how?" Sly stutters for answers.

"I just do, can't you accept that?" Penelope states but she knows that Sly isn't going away anytime soon without a very long answer. He waits for the explanation to come.

"I never knew who I was for a long time, I just knew I was called Penelope. I lived in an orphanage since birth, to this day I do not know exactly who my parents are. When I was there, I didn't have any friends, people laughed because I wasn't strong or fast. But one that day at on my 8th birthday, I got a gift that would change my life, an RC plane. I flew it for hours and hours, it was the only thing that could make me happy. That was until the others decided to destroy it. It mad me so mad that I tried to take one of them on with my fists, that didn't go well. But it fixed my resolve. I learned how to box, it was awkward being the smallest out of them all but, with practise, I got the hang of it and soon I was able to fend for myself. I took my plane and left, I walked away to find my own path. That when I decided to take on the real thing. Me being only 16 at the time, first snuck into a hangar and tried it out for myself, it was great feeling the rush of air and the feeling of going up and down and sideways with nothing to impede your progress. I tried to enter competitions but no one would allow it, so I became the Black Baron. I won every competition that I entered and had gathered a huge fortune, so I set up the ACES competition. Once you guys found me out and joined you for my RC capabilities. I actually felt that I could be myself without having to hide my body under layers of clothes or metal. As I got to be close with Bentley for more time, I began to look inside your book, you know how it is. I was just curious, y'know. I opened the book and that changed my life. I saw things; things that I knew you wouldn't want me to see. But I kept going, I saw these flashing blue lights everywhere, on railings, on ropes, on ledges. I thought I was going crazy, it thought it must have been the book so I put it back, but it's allure only made come back for more. It was like a sickness, being away from it only drove me to get back at it. I'm sure Bentley knows about it though he never told me anything about it." Penelope explains.

"But you betrayed him." Sly says, still not rising his anger at her. That was the past.

"Bentley. He was just, so focused of this secret project of his. He was going to end up like one of those mad scientists that you see on TV. Just pawing around fragile ideas that would grapple his psyche like your hands on anything valuable. His great mind was being wasted on such fruitless projects. A time machine isn't going to pay the bills, at least not in the way he was planning to use it. So I took a risk, a big risk that would equal big reward if it paid off. I took the plans off to someone who would give me the best chance to rid you so I could get him to myself. Someone who had such a beef with you that by sheer determination would jump at any chance he had."

"Le Paradox."

"Yep. I became completely fixed on getting Bentley out of his state that I forgot about everything else, I just had to get my Bentley back. I thought that once you were out of the picture, Bentley would come running back to me, having no one else to go to. When that didn't work out as well as I'd hoped, I was put into prison. Prison is a great place to think about yourself. For those few hours in prison, nothing really happened, I was going to get used to having a cell for the rest of my life. But I heard footsteps from the outside, a group of men in suits came up to me and offered me a deal. In exchange for bringing the 7 best thieves in the world to justice, I would get as many military contracts I would like and a very early release. They handed the pink spray paint over to me in order to cover up the situation, faking my escape. It's why no one knows anything. It was an inside job. They gave me everything I needed. A plane, guards and money. I had the airfield done before as part of my own secret projects. The prize was big and it seemed easy at first. The first 6 took less than a week to capture. I had to wait for you get yourself right. That's right, I checked on you while you came out for your 15 minutes of sun. I knew you would be the hardest one out of them all. But I didn't realise the cost it would take on me. So I got some help."

Sly looks down at the sleeping raccoon at the door.

"I told him the old lie and he was all set. He was going to help out anyway considering how many advances he gave me in the first day. He was creeping me out a bit. Once you came back, the director was hard on my heels, trying to get me to capture you quicker. That's when I started to question myself, he was going to pull the contracts so I kept going, and failed. He became angrier and angrier, demanding my head if I didn't deliver you to him so he could parade you down the street. So I tired to do more research, thinking you would have to have some sort of weakness. That's when I began to do some covert tests on Otto, maybe there was something in your genetics that would help me understand more about you. I only knew by accident. Only a few hours ago I was sequencing Otto's DNA when it came up with a match. For what? I said. There was no other DNA in there. I opened the machine and saw one long blonde lock of hair in the mix. I realised who I truly was for the first time in my life. It brought me great sadness as lay there inside the plane. I hid it from everyone thinking, why am I doing this? What has come over you? How is this possible? What came next was even more research. I found the old records from my orphanage and found all the evidence I needed. On that scanned copy I found the partially rubbed out trace of a six-letter surname on the line for the name given on the sheet. I devised a plan to save you guys by capturing you for the director then breaking you out again once I had collected my money then we would hide and live out our lives. Sadly he was on the phone all night, shouting threats about missile attacks and blowing up the airfield and my plane about slaving me for all my useable life. I had no choice but to have one last shot. "

"And now I'm here. You know everything else; you've heard what I've said. What do say back?"

Sly just lets it sink in. It will never be a full explanation; he will never know exactly what she did or what she was thinking at the time. It is just too complicated to map out all the different connections and causal events that brought them here to the point where Penelope is in a makeshift prison, Sly is standing outside, Otto is sleeping at the foot of the door and Bentley has heard it all.


	24. Chapter 23 - The Hunt Begins

**Bentley's Lab. 6:21am 28****th**** July 2013.**

"My keys!" Bentley shouts across the room. "They were right..." Bentley says as he realises who the culprit is. Bentley turns on the lockdown doors again to prevent their escape. The sirens blurt out warnings that wake up the remainder of the occupants of this lab, not knowing of the situation that shall rock them.

"It's just a bit further." Penelope says to Sly as she leads Sly out of the vent system. Closely following behind is Otto. They are trying to beat the sirens and countdown clock before their plan is doomed. One by one they reach the rooftop of the shoe shop. The heavy blast doors close in on the vent system only 10 seconds after they get out.

"Where did you put it?" Penelope asks.

"It's hidden in a hangar." Sly explains. Penelope knows where it is.

"Come on, let's go, the door will open in 5 minutes so we don't have much time." Penelope says as they make their way across the rooftops of the attached apartments that join together making for an easier way across town. Their destination is Schiphol. The distance would be easy by van or even by public transport but they have no disguises to get them through everyone, also it doesn't help when you have a worldwide manhunt going on at the same time. They make their way to the canals of the city and try to find a boat; it is the quickest way to get to the airport. They spot their target from the rooftops. It is a small boat with a small motor, it won't attract anyone's attention but they still need someplace to hide. That is where the small tarpaulin covering on the front of the boat will serve as. Penelope jumps down to get the boat. She hotwires the engines and breaks the moorings to move it from the dock. Sly and Otto watch from the roof as Penelope moves the boat to the point closest to them so that they can jump aboard. Luckily for them there is a small channel running between two houses that she can sneak into. She does just that and it allows a secretive entrance for Sly and Otto. They cover themselves in the tarpaulin as Penelope pulls away at top speed, which is only 15km/h. Not fast but it will do.

The outboard motor is noisy and whines constantly under the strain it has been put under. For 20 straight minutes it has operated at full power and now it has it's chance to breathe as they have reached their destination. The river does right behind the hangars so they can go straight inside. They abandon the boat and rush along the river as they follow Otto to where he last left the plane. He has parked it inside the hangar of another commercial plane under repairs. They will remove it before the workers come in for their shift. The wide door hangars open and reveal the tiny WW1 plane parked beside the front wheel of the huge passenger jet, one of it's engines are bigger than the entire of Otto's plane. Otto's knows that this is not the time for admiration as he jumps in the plane and starts it's engine. Sly gets in the back and Penelope decides to do some wing walking. Sly doesn't know whether she is trying to impress Otto or himself with her newfound skills. But it does allow for a 2-seater plane to fit three. The discretely take off on a taxi way outside of the hangars to avoid being spotted by air traffic control. Something that Otto doesn't think is necessary when pilots can fly the planes themselves. Who needs to be controlled?

**Bentley's Lab, 6:58am 28****th**** July 2013.**

"Our plan is to Kinderdijk before they do. From my scanning of the air traffic control cameras, it seems they are about to take off. That means we will only have about 25 minutes to travel to Kinderdijk before the execute whatever plan they are doing." Bentley explains quickly.

"Bentley, why are we going after Sly?" Murray asks. He doesn't know why they need to go after Sly. He is their friend not their enemy.

"Because we have to get him. That's why." Bentley snaps backs at Murray. He wants revenge and wants it bad. The others see that he is in a bad way but Bentley has a very tight grip on the situation.

"It will quantify our objective by deriving benefits from this methodical undertaking." Bentley says in a deliberate attempt to nerd everyone out. It works especially well on Murray, who is completely convinced.

"Let's go guys." Murray says as he revs up the van for a very, very fast sprint to Kinderdijk. 95 kilometres in 25 minutes, it will be tough but if anyone could do it in this van, it would be Murray.

**Kinderdijk, The Netherlands, 7:22am July 2013**

Sly is still confused, why does Penelope need to walk across the winds like it's some stunt that is supposed to prove something? Otto doesn't seem fazed by it. In fact he looks like he's rather enjoying himself. As they approach the airfield, Sly gets on his parachute, ready to leap down into the hangar to change planes. Penelope will do the same. This is all part of Penelope's plan which she only reveals as they go along. So far, their task is to send back Otto to his own time by getting him to fly through the time machine in the back of the plane. It will be tricky but it goes like this.

"10 seconds to drop zone!" Penelope shouts while holding onto one of the bi-plane's struts that separate the two wings. Sly stands up in the seat and jumps off to land on the runway, Penelope close behind. Their tails are blown around in the wind as the air buffets around them. They only free-fall for a second before opening the parachutes, ready to glide inside. As he does this simple task, Sly thinks about how Bentley might be reacting to all this, given that his keys to the safe are no longer in his hands. He feels bad that he had to do that to his best friend. But it was clear to him that whatever he was going to do to Penelope wasn't good. Sometimes he can be very devious with his plans, but this is just cruel. He only got to see some of the brief sketches that sprawled all over the floor in Bentley's room. Most of them with big, pointy objects going through the body of the mouse.

Their feet touch down on the black tarmac but there is no time to waste. No doubt Bentley is coming after her. Penelope rushes to open the hangar door and get the plane ready for an immediate take-off. Sly can only watch as she gets to work on removes in the various pipes and hoses that supply the winged beast with fuel, water, hydraulics, and electricity. Everything required to supply a fortress in the air. Sly can only unhook the pipes with his cane and in his tired haste, sprays fluids of all types over the floor. Another thing for the drain to take away. After 5 minutes of unplugging, Penelope opens up the plane itself so that they can board, Otto is circling above for the precise moment to pull off his part of the plan. Despite having already seen the inside of the plane, the amount of displays and buttons still overwhelms Sly. But this is all a blur to him; the effects of staying up for more than 24 hours are getting to him. Penelope is becoming even blurrier to him as well, her hands press and turn so many buttons it becomes a single movement to him. He plonks himself in the co pilots seat, desperate to go to sleep.

"Don't worry, we'll be up in 1 minute." Penelope advises, noticing the very tired Sly who is slumped into the chair, already gone to sleep. She goes over to him and does his seat belt up. She takes a longer look at him, thinking of the feelings she once felt for him. She was young, much has changed since then. There is little time to reminisce; there is a plane to take off. She thrusts the levers forward and the 4 propeller engines spin up, slowly they creep out of the hangar, being careful not to damage the back of the hangar. The force generated from the air could easily blow the back out and collapse the hangar. Otto sees the plane as the signal to begin his move. He readies to dive. Once the tail is clear of the hangar, the engines go to full power, accelerating them both back into their chairs. Penelope lowers the rear hatch for Otto to land into, the sparks that this generates on the ground is a sight to behold. This amount of sparks is not usually seen until Chinese New Year. The bi plane comes into land behind all of the sparks and plows through them all as if they weren't there. The momentum of the plane allows him to get inside, Penelope sees this from a camera and closes the back hatch so the plane doesn't fall out when they take off.

On the motorway approaching the airfield, Murray is still driving at top speed, weaving around all the rush hour traffic, he wasn't fast enough, They can already see the plane taking off from the runway as they drive nearby.

"Drats! They were quicker than I thought, and my calculations are never wrong." Bentley announces to everyone in the van.

"You can't say that. I'm not there yet." Murray counters, not allowing himself to say he is slower.

"Just look." Bentley says. They see the black underbody of the plane swallowing up the landing gear as it passes overhead.

"Well, I can't drive faster than a plane." Murray admits.

"I'll hack into the flight computer, I'll find out where they are going." Bentley says as he types into his computer, trying to find any trace of the path that the plane will take. "There's nothing." Bentley concludes while venting his rage, "That mouse was too smart for her own good."

"Just calm down Bentley" Joey says, he hasn't done much so far; he doubts he will have to.

"Murray, we need to stop for gas." Bentley says.

"But we're…" Murray says but Bentley cuts him out.

"We need to stop for gas." Bentley says slowly to Murray, forcing the issue. Murray stops his furious pace to pull into a service station off the motorway. The two in back see this turtle is in a bad way; he is blinded by what the Coopers have done to him. They have taken away his prize; he still has a lot of 'questions' to ask her.

"Feel free to go outside and have a break while I try to get another plan formulated." Bentley casually states.

Carmelita opens the back door and Joey follows her out, she goes into the store to go into the bathroom and Joey tries on some gas station paraphernalia like cheap sunglasses and weird knick-knacks that you want then but don't need later. Joey turns to see out of the window that the van is pulling away without them. It is no use trying to chase after him, he can't run that fast. He only turns back to see Carmelita getting her hair back in order as she walks out of the bathroom. He rushes over to her.

"They ditched us here." He says to her, Carmelita is not fazed at all.

"I let them, it was best for me." She replies back.

"You let him do that?" Joey asks, confused at what she just said.

"Sure, he won't suspect a thing when I arrive first." Carmelita announces.

"Look, I'm going to get a car and you're going to explain how you know all this to me as I do it." Joey says as he walks through the automatic glass doors of the station.

"From what have know, all the Coopers have broken out and are going somewhere together. Bentley is angry about her escape as he wanted retribution for what he had done to him in terms of a break up." Carmelita explains as Joey jams down the thin metal rod down the window of the car door to unpick the lock.

"Yeah, but that still doesn't tell where we need to go." Joey points out as he opens up the door. He gets inside and opens the other door for Carmelita.

"She's trying to stop this operation that they started. She's going after the director." Carmelita explains.

"Of Interpol?"

"In Lyon." Carmelita finishes.

"But that still doesn't explain how she convinced Sly to get her out or why he is going with her in the first place." Joey says as he hotwires the ignition.

"I don't have an answer for that until we find Sly Cooper. Just drive south, I have to make a phone call." Carmelita announces as she gets out her phone and dials her number for Interpol.

"No, don't do that!" Joey shouts as he clutches at the wires beneath the steering column. "They'll find out where we are and we'll both be screwed."

"This phone is 100% secure." Carmelita assures him as she presses the green call button. A dial tone ensues. Joey gives up as he gets the car in motion.


	25. Chapter 24 - On the Inside

**Interpol Headquarters, Lyon, France.**

The phone rings at the empty desk that used to be Carmelita's. They wait for days ready to tape any conversation she may say, they wait to turn on the trace to find her location. This post would have many people checking in on it every hours for any ringing but today, that ringing is drowned out by all the other ringing on phones which have no people stationed at them. In fact, this entire floor is almost vacant; all the agents have gone on duty to follow the leads of the public. Heaps of tips have been coming in on Sly Cooper's location and they have been told to take every single one seriously. The day shift has yet to come in so the only person left in the building is Geoffrey. He was tasked with monitoring the phone to Carmelita's desk. They thought he would have the best chance to get her in since he had worked with her. He receives the call on the phone and turns on the tape and trace.

"Hello." He says in a calm voice, the rehearsed lines he is meant to say are in front of him to help him achieve the 45 seconds required for a successful trace.

"Turn off the trace now or I blow your head in when I see you." She threatens. She hears the click of the switch, indicating to her that the machine is off.

"Everyone's gone, they are everywhere looking for you." He warns.

"I know that, do you realise that?" She says, raising her voice to apply outrageous amounts of sarcasm.

"Sorry" He apologetically says, she scares him frequently. She is the stuff of nightmares, both to criminals on her radar and to those who work with her.

"Listen, you reinstate my Interpol credentials and be ready for me when I arrive." She explains.

"But, I'd have to go into the Directors office." He says, scared for what would happen when caught, life in prison doesn't sound attractive to him.

"I'm sure you can do it, or I will put you in prison for interfering with justice, you are talking to a wanted woman after all."

"I'll, I'll try." He stutters, succumbing to the task he must face. There shall be no margin for error. Failure equals prison time. Now that he thinks through the plan slowly. It can't be that hard, no one is in the office and the director is spending all his time down in the war rooms below. His office should be vacant. He slowly wanders through the empty hallways with paper strewn over the place from the night before. Not even the cleaners have done their job. He presses the button for the elevator and looks around, he sees no one coming after him. He feels slightly better with himself. The polished, stainless steel doors open to reveal the broad shoulders of the Director, who towers over him like a skyscraper around cardboard boxes. He is especially intimidating to him; just the sight of him freaks him out. Reluctantly, walks inside, trying not to reveal anything about the plan to him. He tries to look away from him and face the wall but the director doesn't like this, it is the mark of a coward.

"Look here." The director instructs him as he turns his arms to make this runt face him.

"Look at my face." He says, the sweaty beads just drain down his face from another night of bad leads and general failure to live up to his goal.

"Do you see a man that's done a good job?" He asks into his face. Geoffrey doesn't know what to say. There is no right answer in his mind. He decides to appease him.

"Yes sir!" He says. But his face is only met with a slap from the director. The director catches him to prevent him from falling from the force of the hand to the face. He wants Geoffrey to hear this.

"No! Because Sly Cooper is not in this building!" He shouts, venting his frustration. "Do you think that the sign of a good job is being drenched in your own sweat in these clothes for hours into the night only to emerge with nothing?!"

"Uh, no?" Geoffrey replies.

"That it the most piss-weak response I've ever heard from someone in this building. You disgrace not only me, but this great organisation!" He says. Geoffrey expects only certain death as the next thing to be out of the Director's mouth. His frantic tirade is only ended by the ping of the doors opening for the top floor.

"Well, best be on your way." The director says in a change in tone.

"Can I help you with your coat sir? He asks, how can he still offer to help this monster after what he just said?

"Sure, sure. Just put it in my office, I'm going to take a shower." The director announces. His office has been refitted, former chief Barkley's office was way too small for his tastes. This office has everything needed to live here. Bathroom, kitchen, a couch that turns into a bed and, most importantly, a desk with the compuer. Geoffrey puts the coat on the chair facing the computer on the desk. He waits until he hears the running water of the shower before he begins the most daring thing he has ever attempted. He opens up the computer and quickly loads up the necessary programs required to update officer's information. Being the director, this computer has access to all of the information at Interpol. Restoring the credentials is easy, he spends most of his time in front of a computer so he knows his way around an OS. That is done, so he is about to shut down the computer as it was but he is curious to know what is happening below. But that is cut short as he the Director finishes his shower earlier than expected. He must be in a hurry.

"Can you get on the phone and tell Caroline that I'll be up in 2 minutes?" He shouts out from the bathroom. Obediently, Geoffrey rings the personal assistant of the director and does as he asks of him. The director rushes out of the bathroom, still a bit wet from not having the time to dry himself up properly, he'll have time to get changed on the plane.

"Also, can you get the briefcase from inside the desk? It should be in the left compartment." He asks again. Once again, he follows his instructions. He takes out the heavily fortified briefcase and with all his puny strength, carries it to the director who is quickly buttoning up his shirt. The case has a strange symbol on the bottom, but he has no time to study it as he gives to the director whose muscles barely flex as he takes the load of the case. His rushing out of the door means that he doesn't notice that Geoffrey just remains in his office. Outside he can hear the sound of the helicopter taking off from the roof and then he sees the fast rotating blades tilt toward the airport. His destination is not what he is thinking about, but it's that weird symbol on the briefcase. He sits down in the comfy office chair and opens the drawers for a pencil and paper so he can picture his thoughts. The sketch he draws down doesn't resemble anything that he was thinking of. It looks like a scribble to him, frustrated he throws into the bin.

Instead, he decides to set up a screen share with his own computer so that he doesn't have to be in his office. It would only add more suspicion. That is done and he leaves the office as if he wasn't there. The stillness also freaks him out. It's never this quiet around here. He has the entire place to himself.

"I've done it." He says, replying back to Carmelita. This surprises her greatly but she isn't going to let him know that.

"Good. Where is the director now?" She asks.

"He just left in a helicopter. I think he's going to the airport." He explains.

"And where are his team of deputies?"

"No one is in here, you see. I've got the entire building to myself." He exclaims as he hears the echo bouncing off all the walls and roof.

"How?"

"Everyone is gone looking for that Sly Cooper thief. They have been told to follow all the tip offs seriously and no one has the time to come back. I'm here monitoring your phone but I guess I won't be doing that anymore."

"Just be ready when we arrive."

"Okay." He replies as he hangs up the phone and puts his feet up and reclines his seat with the entire floor to himself.

**Penelope's Plane, 7:40am 28****th**** July 2013.**

Penelope ascends into the clouds and levels off, Otto has joined them in the cockpit. He wants to say something to her, but he can't say anything. He doesn't have the confidence to profess himself to her. He feels so inferior compared to Penelope. They way she just handles the plane with such force but with such delicacy is pleasing to his eyes, it makes him so happy inside. He knows he doesn't have much time left, so he goes all in.

"Penelope, I know that haven't been much to you, or that I have been too over the top. But since time is short, I must say this."

He takes a deep breath. The pressure builds as Penelope waits to hear what he has to say. But it is too much for him as he walks away as fast as possible from the cockpit. He can't face her for all the love that he professes to others. The embarrassment is way too much for him and he goes back to the safety of his plane. Penelope puts the plane in autopilot and goes down to see how Otto is holding up. She doesn't want him to return a nervous wreck. She doesn't say anything as she approaches in order to nurture the situation to her advantage.

"I won't bite." She says to Otto who is leaning with his head in his hands on the side of his plane.

"I'm not good enough." He says into his forearms. The muffled voice is only faintly detected by Penelope. She knows that he loves her very much. But her heart is not with him. Besides, they would produce genetically weak offspring if they chose so. The match itself is not ideal in other, more obvious circumstances. The first being the 100 year gap between their times. Secondly, the changes to the time space continuum would be almost too big to imagine. She can only offer him the ticket back home.

"Come on, we're ready to send you back." She says as she gives him a kiss on the cheek. This gives Otto all of the energy and will he needs to survive back in the first world war. Quickly he gets into the plane, ready to drive it into the time machine.

"I will never forget that!" he shouts as he turns the engine on. Penelope dials in the correct date and place into the time machine and the portal starts to spin up.

"Goodbye." She shouts at him over the propeller engine.

"Goodbye my love!" He shouts back as he enters the time machine. The plane is gone, he is gone.

That is done for her. She returns into the pilots seat, wondering about him. She can't really think of much else for a while, did she really have reciprocal feelings for him? She looks at Sly, whose cap has fallen of his head during the take-off. She reaches down and puts it back on his head. She smiles to herself; she turns the cap backwards and tries to imagine Sly like some sort of rapper. That only brings her back to the cruise to Blood bath bay. He was wearing a huge fur coat 3 sizes to big for him and a golden knuckleduster with the word 'swag' on it. Dark shades and sneakers are what completed his disguise. She doesn't think that Sly could pull off any lyrical miracles; he doesn't know much else apart from being a thief. Just like she doesn't know much else apart from planes, computers and remote controlled devices. Jokes, aside she sits back down into the jet for the next hour as they fly across the European continent for Lyon.


	26. Chapter 25 - We make a Good Team

**Motorway, Netherlands-Belgium Border. 9:13am 28****th**** July 2013**

"Why does the traffic have to be so bad?" Murray asks himself as Bentley tries to find alternate routes. This border crossing today is jam-packed full of cars that aren't moving fast at all through the gates. The van is forced to wait in line with the other vehicles much to their discontent. The will only be further behind than they need to be. Already having not aught them before they took off meant that they would be several hours behind before they make it to Lyon. Another car has had the same idea. With all of her Interpol credentials reinstated, she passes by through the diplomatic entrance. No need to wait in line for the queues. They even spot the distinctive blue van amongst the trucks and cars that clog the road.

"Look, they're back there. We'll beat them there easy." Joey says, reassured that this traffic will cause them a 30-minute head start. On the other side of the car, Carmelita is giving her details.

"Yep, It all checks out. There's just one more thing I'd like you to do." The toll guard explains.

"What's that?" Quickly he tries to draw his gun but there is no one quicker than Carmelita. She beats him to it.

"Give the gun here." She demands and he gives it up. Joey takes this one for himself.

"See ya." Joey shouts out of the window as he drives off. "Yeah, they'll be onto us soon so I thought I'd enjoy it while it lasted." He explains as he speeds away into the distance.

"You ready for a high speed pursuit?" She asks. There need not be an answer as he already floors the car and goes into the fast lane.

**Lyon, France. 9:24am 28****th**** July 2013**

"They'll know that I've left and not completed the mission so they'll try to shut down every link to me now." She explains to the now fully awake Sly.

"So, how do we get inside?" Sly asks.

"Because the director will be stuck in the Netherlands, we should have an easy access and enough time to get inside before this all gets out of hand." She says, trying to hide the secret she has kept from him all this time.

"So, what are we talking about, roof? Drains? Vents? Because I'm down for all of that." Sly remarks, just proving how good he is at skulking around.

"The war rooms are downstairs in a bunker, we'll have to be careful going inside as that's where all of the personnel will be."

"Too easy." The invisible Sly states back, showing how he knows what to do. The landing shakes him out of his focus and out of his invisibility.

"Once we get out they will try to find us so we you need to follow me out of here." She instructs.

"Do you know the place?"

"How else would they know who I am and what I needed to do? They took me there first." She explains. She parks the plane in a vacant hangar and waits for the engines to spin down before attempting to get out. That would only end up in a result that wouldn't be good for them in ways untold. There is no need for a set of stairs to help them get down form the plane, they just jump down. She shuts the hangar doors and stands with Sly at the exit door.

"We have to assume that everyone out there is looking for us, in reality, that's what's going to be happening once the Director gives the order." She explains.

"Relax, I'm used to it." He replies.

"I don't think you want to know what's at stake here so you need to be on top of yourself." She finalises one last time but he has already disappeared and opened up the door.

"Come on Penelope, stop being so serious and let's go." Sly urges her. She does the same and they walk together across the concrete ground. It looks normal from the ground, people unloading the baggage from the planes carts and cars driving them along for them to be put inside the terminal. Sly doesn't know where all of the security that she was talking about is. He feels as relaxed as a thief could ever let himself to be, which isn't relaxed at all. Penelope holds Sly's invisible hand so that he knows where to go. The run across the ground and go up the stairs into one of the gangways for one of the incoming flights. The passengers are getting off the plane so Sly and Penelope stay invisible amongst them. They walk slowly along the pace with the groups of people that trudge off the plane from a long flight. They all look very deprived of sleep. Sly thinks they could learn a thing or two from him. His sleeping pattern is never fixed so he just goes to sleep whenever he wants to, allowing him to cram in sleep when it's convenient and not when it's required. It's just another thing he needs to put in his big book of secrets.

The inside of the terminal however is crawling with guards, like there has been a terrorist threat. Penelope stops and whispers into Sly's ear.

"We need a disguise." She says.

"We've come to the right place." Sly says. All the boutique shops surround them; they could find a multitude of outfits.

"Just wait here and I'll get you something." She says as she walks over to the bathroom to change back into a visible state without being seen. Sly just waits outside, all the guards just casually walk past but they can't see him. After about 30 seconds, Penelope comes out and winks at a clear section on the wall where she saw Sly leaning on. Sly take a look around the corner, he can see her picking out some clothes for the two of them. A top from the top rack, another pair of pants. She's not dilly dallying with her time like some other women that he has seen in clothing shops. Penelope takes all of the clothes and waits for the employee to take off all the security tags that prevent them from being stolen. There is no challenge for Sly to steal from a shop that has done nothing wrong. The tags are too easy to get off if you have the equipment and technique to hide it.

"That comes to 598 euros." She says as the checkout girl finishes scanning all of the goods. Penelope passes over her card; it has all the money from the previous transaction on it so money is not a problem. However, access to that money is, her bank account is suspended.

"Your card is declined." She flatly states back to Penelope.

"Try it again, try entering it manually into the system." She asks.

"Are you some kind of computer genius?" She asks out of curiousity.

"I know a bit." She says, underselling her talents.

"You do it then, I can't use this thing in front of me." She says back as Penelope goes around the counter to type into the computer. What she does next is a stroke of genius in the short term. She makes the transaction as if the business has just recorded the stock she has 'bought' as drawings, meaning no money need to be paid and the goods can be taken away. A receipt is printed and she is away with the goods. Once Penelope walks past with the goods, Sly tags on behind to check out what her fashion sense is like. Not that he cares that much about fashion. If he looks horrible, he can just be unseen by all. He follows her into the ladies toilets while still invisible and goes into the stall next to her as she passes over his items for wearing. Sly puts on the clothes over his thieving outfit underneath in case he needs to do a quick change. No one is in the bathroom at this time, which is a rare occurrence for any women's toilets, especially at an airport.

Penelope waits outside to check to see if it is clear. Sly emerges from the stall donning a black shirt with black pants and black tinted sunglasses.

"You are very obsessed with the colour black." Sly remarks looking at his clothes. Then again, he should be expecting it. She was the 'Black' Baron, the Black Knight and owns a black plane. Her yellow-orange tracksuit combination has adorned with black stripes down the sides.

"Black is a very practical colour." She replies back. "Especially for what we need to do next."

"Does it involve stealth or being out of sight?" He asks, noting his similarly dark clothing.

"Yeah. But first we walk past the guards, don't make eye contact, don't try anything stupid and make sure you keep your cane out of sight. If they see that you will become Swiss cheese." She warns Sly.

"I always preferred Brie, but let's go." Sly says as they walk along the terminal to the exit. His cane is stashed inside the large shopping bag; he keeps it firmly closed to allow no outsiders to peak inside.

"We take the train into town and make our way to the building itself, which is next to a huge park, that's where we will enter from." She explains, trying to look casual as to not attract attention.

"It's a nice day today." Sly notes, looking out of the terminals floor to ceiling glass windows.

"Are you listening to me?" She asks, annoyed at his distraction.

"I'm just keeping up the act." Sly says calmly, he has done this more times than she has, he knows what to do when surrounded by guards that you can't take down. He has the experience; Penelope is trying to fit in. Sly thinks she's doing fine but in the end. Sly is the thief in this old couple. They walk out through the baggage carousel and out to the rail system that will take them as close as it can to the Interpol Headquarters.

**Belgium. 9:58am 28****th**** July 2013**

"Can't you call these people off?" Joey asks as he floors it down the motorway.

"I've tried like 5 times already." Carmelita angrily replies, unhappy that this little pursuit will go across country for hours.

"Take them out then, I'll keep driving and you short out their engines with your shock pistol." Joey suggests.

"It's better than doing nothing." She says as she opens up the side window and prepares to shoot back at them. Pulling the trigger is difficult as the car overtakes all slowpokes that go in their way. It is also harder as Joey's good driving has managed to open up a 500 metre gap, but her marksmanship is unmatched. The engines fail as the electric pulse overloads the battery, meaning no ignition of the combustible mixture in the engine. The cars also block some of the lanes, which also aids them in preventing Bentley from getting past. No doubt the van has some trick up its sleeve that they don't know. All they can focus on is the road ahead and the many kilometres of pedal to the metal driving ahead.

"Sly's going to make it there first." Joey says out loud, thinking of the situation. "You should get your 'man on the inside' to give us some updates about his progress."

"Just keep on driving, I'll make the call." Carmelita says, not letting herself show that these ideas he keeps suggesting are perfect. They make a good team despite their differences.

"Pick up!" She shouts into the dialling phone.

No answer.


	27. Chapter 26 - Enter Through the Lobby

**Parc de la Tête d'Or ****(Park of the Golden Head) Lyon. 10:23am**

The square building that they have been searching for is now in sight. They walk through the park casually, like they are just having a nice stroll together. Sly's mind is still on Carmelita, fixing her head to Penelope in his mind to make this awkward situation more comfortable. Penelope's mind is thinking about Bentley although not manifesting his face onto Sly. She wonders how he is going, whether he is taking this little 'outing' well. Would he ever forgive her for what she is doing? Does he think she is trying to separate the Coopers from the rest of them? These pass and go through her head like cars on an assembly line. What she is thinking about more pressingly is how will Sly react to what she has done. Every step she takes closer to that building, she feels worse about it. She doesn't say it Sly, he has to find this out for himself. She thinks it's the best way for him to figure out what is going on. The cool mountain air from the nearby Alps makes the day slightly colder, even though it is summer, it is still not very warm. Sly has to reach for the also black jacket in the bag that contains his cane; He moves the cane around and searches for the jacket. Just a zip up with a higher neck to keep the neck warm. If this were nighttime, even without invisibility, he would be unseen.

Only the high fence with razor wire on the top prevents them from entering. There seems to be no guards around so it doesn't look like they will be caught out. Sly gets out his cane and climbs a nearby tree in order to get over the fence. It's a bit of an oversight for a building that is meant to be secure. Maybe there will be more tests for him on the inside. He lets the gate open for Penelope and they walk across the empty tarmac side road of the building. Sly had never contemplated going inside one of these buildings, at least not when he is caught. He expects to see everyone look at him, stunned at his audacity. He peaks through the thick glass panes to check for security numbers. He can count the number of guards on no fingers. Sly walks through the rotating doors with Penelope close behind. Sly goes into the lobby and sees no one there. Is this what security has come to these days? It shows why he has been unable to be caught. They walk slowly up to the stairs; the elevator is too risky considering this might be a trap. Every situation could be a trap.

He goes to the first floor and sees row after row of empty cubicles, shouldn't it be busier than this? Considering that they are searching for him night and day in this new campaign of theirs. But via his hearing, he finds the typing on a single keyboard to be a disturbance. Only the forehead can be seen but he doesn't see them. Sly ducks down below the height of the cubicles. The typing is quick but unrushed; Sly's movements are the same. As he gets closer he can hear the faint mumblings spilling out of his mouth, like he is trying to figure something out. Surely law enforcement hasn't been hit that hard by the financial downturn that an entire floor of cubicles is reduced to one man on a computer.

"Just a few more calculations on the image." He speaks to himself, willing the computer on to make the calculation to what ever he is doing.

"The proportions should be right, it's… just." He speaks as the computer spits out another failed result. No match is made.

"You stupid piece of semiconductors!" he says as he gets up and flips the chair over in anger at how bad this system is. Only he stops to he that raccoon Sly Cooper stops the chair with his foot. And it's the mouse the director was with a week ago. Together.

"Hi" Sly says, casually picking up the chair with his cane without looking. This only freaks out Geoffrey more at his physical weakness compared with this specimen. He almost falls out of his chair at the sight of him. This is not who he was expecting to see. He fears that his life is now over now that the world's best thief is standing opposite him.

"Please, don't kill me!" He cowers as he tries to prepare for what he thinks is the inevitable. Sly just sees this over reaction and tries to dispel it.

"Woah, slow down there. I'm not going to hurt you." Sly says.

"How can you say that?" Geoffrey says as he backs away slowly from Sly. "You were responsible for the recent murder of 30 innocent school children." Sly is shocked that he even suggested it.

"I may be a thief but I'm not a cruel maniac. There is a very large difference between the two." Sly says then realises where he would have gotten this Ill-conceived information. "Take me to the director now."

"He left in a helicopter." Geoffrey explains frantically with all the adrenaline pumping in his body wanting him to flee the situation.

"You can give me and my… friend here the tour, while we wait for him to arrive." Sly suggests. Geoffrey is completely complicit. Death shall not me on his menu for today. Neither it is on Sly's menu to be giving it to this poor, freaked out aardvark.

"But first, why isn't anyone here?" Sly asks.

"They're trying to find you." He replies. "I they call everyone back here because they find you, you will be caught, there is no way you can get out here."

"I'll find a way." Sly says while he walks with some swagger down the empty hallways of the Interpol Headquarters. They turn a corner to the elevator shafts and they stop.

"What do you want to see first? More offices, the directors office, the break room." He starts.

"Do you have some war rooms here?" Sly asks, trying to pretend he doesn't know already.

"Uh." He replies back, not wanting to divulge the information, but Sly takes out his cane from the bag. This makes him spill it all out.

"There's the war room down stairs, level -8." He replies while being scared.

"Perfect." He says as they wait for an elevator. This ping signifies it arrival. The wait is almost comparable to that in his dream that was so long ago. That is almost like another world to him. They enter the smooth stainless steel insides of the elevator and find the button for the war rooms. Penelope is getting worried as well, worried that they are getting ever closer to the source of all her anxiety. The elevator takes a long time to reach the underground bunkers that are dimly lit by fluorescent lights in the roof. The near darkness makes it for almost perfect conditions.

"Go back to your desk and stay there, I don't want anything to happen to you." Sly says to Geoffrey who stays inside the elevator. Initially Geoffrey thinks that Sly's words are just a part of his smooth talking ways. But being a handler and an analyst, he knows all of the different speech patterns of criminals. All of his experience wants him to think that he is lying. But all of his training tells him that Sly feel genuinely concerned for him. Maybe that line between right and wrong is completely blurred for this infamous raccoon. He doesn't know what to say back, so he just hides inside the closed doors of the elevator and the safety of his cubicle. It may not protect him from an explosion but just being in a familiar place seems safer to anyone.

Meanwhile, Sly and Penelope sneak around the dimly lit corridors of the underground hub that is the war rooms. This place has much more people in it. All of the analysts must be still down here, constantly searching for the signs of Sly. They don't need to look in far off places when he is in the same building. Of course, they don't know that right now, they probably won't know until it is too late. With each passing step, Penelope looks for a way to distance her self from Sly before he sees the horrid truth that is in this same area. She physically quakes in her shoes at the thought of the sight of Sly seeing the this complete and utter personal violation of not only himself, but of everything that he knows and thinks. She only tries to mentally prepare herself for the escape that she will have to make when he find out. The muggy, humid conditions down there suggest that there is no vent out of the here. All the air must be recycled in a closed system to help with security. The sweaty air however comes from the people working days and night to find one raccoon.


	28. Chapter 27 - Screens and Laser Beams

**The War Rooms, Interpol HQ. Lyon, France. 10:32am 28****th**** July 2013**

They come across the main centre of this underground command centre. A massive circular bank of TV screens adorn every side of this cylindrical room to give all the workers the maximum amount of information. Live satellite feed is seen from one of the screens on the motorway. It is one fast moving car with an entire fleet of police cars chasing in pursuit. Others show weather conditions, satellite orbits and current positions of agents in the field via GPS trackers. The screens provide most of the illumination for this large room, this gives a higher contrast of the images, making the screens appear clearer and brighter whilst reducing power consumption. It has a 3 story high circular atrium in the centre with a circular gangway on the outside for people to make their way around the centre without having to disturb any other people. Below, banks of monitors and servers are churning away at all of the data that is being crunched by their operators. All these systems are cooled by what is probably the most noticeable feature in this room. A giant fan covering the entire roof of the centre, sucking out all of the hot air and venting it out in tiny pressurised pipes that are too small to crawl through.

All the flashing lights and rapidly changing images on the screens causes Sly to keep his sunglasses on even though they are 50 metres underground. Penelope stands 2 metres behind Sly, not wanting to be within striking range when he finds out.

"Don't you want to see this?" Sly whispers to Penelope, coercing her forward to the railing to look down at all of the hard working people who are bathed in their own sweat. Reluctantly, she moves to the railing, careful not to glance at the small back passageway leading to all her fears.

"All of them are looking for me, yet I'm right here." Sly acknowledges.

"What are we doing down here? We should wait until the director comes back." She says.

"You should know what's down here, you've been here yourself." Sly points out.

"They could have changed everything since I was last here." She worries to Sly.

"Let's just go down." Sly instructs as he walks down the handrail to the bottom floor. Penelope follows him down but progressively gets further and further away because she is scared of what Sly might do when he finds out. They make their way to the dimly lit ground floor. All of the analysts are glued to their screens, meaning no chance of them to look at the thief amongst them. Three hallways jut out from this circular room to even darker places. Sly makes his way down one of them. It is not the one that Penelope is concerned with, that one is on the opposite side. She has the feeling that Sly is going to look around every last nook and cranny in this place for clues. Sly is doing just that, sneaking ahead with intent. He looks into rooms and keeps on moving, like he is looking for something as well. All the rooms in this hallway are just small offices filled with shelving of documents only someone with a PhD could decipher.

Since Sly does not have a PhD in anything, he moves out of the corridor and back into the main area where the analysts type away furiously into their computers in a vain attempt to isolate the location of Sly Cooper. A little known technique called looking up would solve the problem but in this group of highly specialised and qualified individuals, none of them posses this skilful trait. Suddenly, as Sly is about to enter the next corridor, he picks up something that is invisible to Penelope. He doesn't go into the corridor but moves directly onto the next one. The adrenaline starts to pump in Penelope's body, preparing her for her escape or something worse. It's a shame of what this might come to if that were to happen. They had gotten along well as the two of them. Even after what had happened, Sly was able to look past the past and concentrate on the future. He has that compassion that few have, let alone for someone's conscience to be clean in this line of work that he does. It's what separates the Cooper's from 99.9% of all thieves.

Penelope goes along the corridor to watch what Sly is doing, she dare not enter his space as that might attract attention towards her. He might make the connections and then go after her. She knows the walk inside this room, it frightens her the further she walks. She hides behind the hallways, only watching Sly from around the corners. Sly doesn't notice that his partner has gone missing. He is still going down the hallway like he is attracted to some unseen force. Sly quickly changes back into his normal thieving outfit as he stops outside this one particular locked door. Penelope can only see him start to pick at the lock, she takes a deep breath to calm herself down at what might happen next, all the permutations run through her head like she's running a simulation on a computer. Examining the outcomes of all the possibilities that could happen when he enters that room. All of them in her mind all result in some form of escape for her or a fight with Sly. She is that worried about the situation.

Sly tries to pick but remembers he has brought something with him, Bentley's keys. He has been working on a set of skeleton keys that could open all types of doors, whether they may be electronic or normal keyed locks. There are two locks on this that must be done simultaneously in order to open it. The locks are only a centimetre apart so only one person is required to open the door. Sly gets out a keycard and a normal key, he inserts them both in their appropriate locks, the light turns green, meaning that this door can be opened. The moment of truth has beset on Penelope, who hopes most out of all that she will still be alive long enough to explain her reasons.

Sly slowly opens the door only to see a beam of light amplified by stimulated emission of radiation, commonly known to most people as a laser. In fact, there are many lasers pointing in all sorts of directions around this large room. Is this some kind of laser trap that Sly must get across to access something else? There isn't anything that he can see which indicates this. He only knows that something in this room has drawn him here. Sly fully opens the door so he can get inside. He takes a look around the room. More lasers adorn the room in some sort of odd pattern that doesn't make sense from this angle. He tries to look around for any traps that make unstick him but there is nothing out of the ordinary to suggest so. It only means that whoever is in this room has set them up very well. That's what must be assumed by a thief who is trying to get anywhere, it's how he doesn't get caught. The only light in the room is the laser light that doesn't illuminate the room. Sly tries to sneak further into the room to look around but he is ambushed from above, he feels the force drag his shoulders down to the ground. Sly tries to break out of it but his frantic bursts are not enough to break this unseen persons grip on him.

"You think I'm Sly Cooper? You better get back out before I show you what your friends missed out on." He shouts at Sly's face. Sly goes into extreme shock, he no longer moves about trying to escape, he is motionless not struggling with the grip of the assailant. This unseen figure notices this as well; he thinks he has given another analyst a heart attack by the sheer ferocity of this takedown. He has had enough of people coming in here disturbing his research and trying to make him pretend that he is someone that he is not. He takes out his anger on this particular entrant very hard, venting out his anger towards all the annoying and foolish outsiders in this underground bunker. But he lets go of this intruder into his workspace and walks away, he knows that this one will be fine, they always seem to wake up after the initial and violence has passed. This is followed by a hasty getaway and the sigh of relief that his space is now to himself. He goes back up to his top floor with his papers where has sprawls down some more calculations on a sheet of paper.

"Directional momentum seems to be the only way of supporting any sort of reasonable mass but only in the same direction as the laser is pointed. The momentum of these photons is not enough to support any stationary mass. I just need a way of quantifying the movement velocity against the momentum of the photons. So if I slide down here again. That works. But if I stop, I fall back onto the ground." He says, talking to himself. Once he lands back on the ground he realises that the body is still there. That is a bit unusual; he must be one of the weaker minded ones. He goes and feels this bodies pulse; it's very low for one of these analysts. Being fit and being an analyst don't go together so this person must not be an analyst. There are no other lights in this room; any other electromagnetic radiation sources could affect the results of these experiments. There is no way to see who this person is without touching them. He moves his hands over his shoulders and down his arms until he reaches the item that is being held in one of the arms, he feels the material that he has not felt before, it feels smooth with no imperfections. He moves one of his hands to determine the shape of this object, slowly moving up to the top and around the curved tip. It's a cane. Have they decided to make a replica from a new material to give to him? But why? He can't think of any reason why. He then feels around the face, trying to give himself a kinaesthetic picture of the intruder. He feels around the snout, the eyes, and the cheeks. From his own knowledge, this must be a raccoon. He walks away, wanting to concentrate on his own work for now. But he can hear the subject stand up as silently as he can. He turns slowly to face the intruder once more. One word comes out of the intruder's mouth that causes him to stop in his tracks.

"Dad."


	29. Chapter 28 - Winning

**Heischtergronn, Luxembourg, 10:32am 28 July 2013.**

Joey is still driving flat out after 2 hours of constant pedal to the medal driving, but that was just the easy part. The roads leading into Luxembourg City are narrow and winding. Spikes strips, roadblocks and shouting on a megaphone have not stopped them at all. Carmelita can only keep watch from the passenger seat at any signs of trouble ahead whether it may be roadblocks or surprise ambushes. She has managed to get into the radio frequency of the communications for the police, it is a frequency well known to her for obvious reasons.

"We have to be quick with this." Joey explains while weaving through the traffic. "We stop in Luxembourg City, swap the car over and get out without them seeing us."

"That trick is too old." Carmelita rebuffs, her knowledge of crimes is impressive. "You won't have a chance once we stop the car."

"Luxembourg has the highest earnings per capita, we'll get something better than this, hopefully some supercar or something like that." Joey explains. He wants to continue but over the sound of the engine is the sound of another engine. A huge rumbling exhaust note that would frighten birds and small animals in the woods.

"How did they catch up?" Joey asks to himself. He thinks he has not done anything wrong so far, they haven't been stopped by the police or had to slow down for anything. But in these woods, he needs to pick up the pace even further to stop the driving ace that is Murray getting past and reaching Lyon first. He goes around the bend and sees the blue van catching up at a frenetic pace along the road into Luxembourg City. The undulating gradient of the road is a stern test for any driver. Let alone with all of the police pressure that they have been piling on them, helicopters follow them wherever they go. They get to the point where Murray is right behind the rear bumper of Joey.

"The Murray is coming though!" Murray shouts over a loudspeaker mounted on the front. He tries to overtake the two of them but is blocked by Joey. The road section here is only two lanes wide as they go through all of the turns in single file, bumper to bumper. Murray is following Bentley's instructions as he types away on his computer for the best opportunity to get past and pull away an advantage.

"Just keep going Murray, soon they will have to negotiate a double hairpin which their inferior vehicle will succumb to the laws of inertia and friction." Bentley says with a devious and evil tone. Murray doesn't have any concern for Bentley, he is too focused on the task at hand to even think about why and how they are here. To him that is just space in his head that is being wasted when instead it could be filled with new ways to break stuff. The two of them make the slight S-bend as they reach the double hairpin. The helicopter is waiting for them at the apex of the first hairpin, watching the roadblock they have set up on this blind turn. Spike strips cover the entire road in front of the cars, even the grassy area around the hairpin, the police do not wan tot take any chances with this pursuit any longer considering the amount of resources that have failed them so far. Joey doesn't expect such a turn after all of the quick driving before, he doesn't have time to brake for the corner and so goes for the sideways options, applying a high speed drift around this banking hairpin, Murray drives up to the smoking rear end of the car and nudges it just so that the car spins around and goes towards the slip road at the outer edge of this main road. The van continues around the bend at speed and Joey can only see the van go straight through the spike strips without any sign of tire explosions or sparks flying from the rims of the van.

"Keep going." Carmelita shouts at Joey who is in a daze after spinning around and almost hitting the trees. Joey shakes his head as he sees the advancing cops with guns drawn, Joey reverses the car down this side road and does a J-turn to get moving out of the police presence, some cars follow them down these tiny back roads but they are more concerned with the van that has just gone straight through their defences.

"Does this road go to Luxembourg?" Joey shouts quickly as he loses his patience after what has just happened. Carmelita calmly looks at her phone and gets the map up.

"Yes it does."

"We're not out of this yet." Joey says as he rounds the bend that clears the forest and gets them into the centre of a small village. These places are only going to slow down their progress.

The progress of the van however is not stopped at all. Murray still keeps his right foot planted down these stretches of road. He thinks they have won this race now, but still doesn't ease up.

"Good job Murray, thanks to your efforts we'll easily beat them to Interpol and capture Penelope for good this time." Bentley explains.

"I beat them so easily." Murray exclaims, high on adrenaline from winning the 'race'.

"You sure did pal." Bentley says, trying to keep him in this state is key to his success.

"I'm hungry Bentley." Murray announces. "I deserve something after that victory."

"We can't stop now, we are in front now. Think of it this way, you're in the lead in a race. If we go into the pits and they overtake us, we'll lose. If we don't stop, we'll win. Got it?" Bentley explains. Murray gets the explanation but he doesn't like to fail his stomach. He pushes on through the pain and hunger for what must be the first time in years.

**The War Rooms, Interpol HQ, Lyon, France. 10:33am 28****th**** July 2013**

"How could you even say such a thing? You have no right to call me dad." He angrily dismisses to this shadowy intruder. Sly isn't deterred by this on the outside, but on the inside, that really is a shameful thing to have your own father state to you.

"I'm Sly Cooper, your son."

"So you're the Sly Cooper everyone is talking about here. Every time one of these so-called analysts comes in, they keep on talking about you if that's who you really are."

"Please just stop." Sly says, not wanting to hear any more hateful rhetoric being directed towards himself.

"I'm going to see if you truly are this Sly Cooper that they keep on talking about. If you can hit me once, than you are truly a Cooper." Connor explains.

"I can't hit you dad." Sly replies back, on the verge of sobbing. All the memories he has of his father before his untimely demise are happy ones. None of them even going to close to the hateful and vile raccoon that stands before him.

"What are you then? Some kind of weak runt that can't even participate in some good natured tussling?"

"I'm not going to hit you." Sly repeats forcefully.

"Well then, I guess you aren't fit to even be mentioned as my successor." He replies back to Sly. Sly wipes away the tears and gets ready to continue facing this barrage of painfully deep wounding words that tear his heart into pieces. He snaps out of it when there is a loud thud on the ground followed by shouting.

"What sorcery is this?" Connor shouts at the shadow of Sly from the ground where he struggles as if being held by an invisible force. "Stop it now!" He stops struggling against the ground as if like a salmon out of water and gets up to approach his raccoon that claims to be 'Sly Cooper'.

"What dark magic is this that you have brought unto the family name?" He shouts towards Sly.

"Just thank me later." A voice whispers quietly in Sly's ear. Sly is jumps slightly at the sound of her voice.

"I heard that! There's someone else in the room is there?" A paranoid Connor shouts back at Sly. "Come out of the shadows and face me." The words echo around the room. A light bursts out of the darkness that lights up the room and makes the lasers linear presence less intimidating and precise when in this bright light. Connor covers his eyes from this bright light.

"Ah! My eyes!" He shouts as the bright light pierces his eyes after being inside this dark room for the last several hours. He moves his hands away from the light to see a tall raccoon in some weird 1920's type blue clothing and that mouse that caught him before standing side by side. He has to pause to briefly think about this pairing in a vain attempt to fully understand the situation in the second before she has to break the air.

"You're nothing compared to Sly." She says back at him. Standing up for Sly is something she though she wouldn't do given his nature but everyone needs some help.

"What is this? Some kind of obscene trick that you have pulled on me in order to prove that you are better than me? What cheek you have to even attempt it but what makes it that little bit better for me is that you didn't have the guts to do it. You had to hire out some help to do it for you." He riles back at Sly. These insults are becoming so misguided and vulgar that it makes Sly think twice about the nature of his father. It wasn't the reunion that he would have hoped for. Maybe Dr. M was right after all.

* * *

**Authors Note: **If you would like to know where this hairpin that i have used in this story is; search 'Heischtergronn' in google maps and look below where the name of the town is.


	30. Chapter 29 - Empathy and Apathy

**The War Rooms, Interpol HQ, Lyon, France. 10:35am 28****th**** July 2013**

"First of all, he didn't hire me out. I did it by myself. Secondly." She pauses as she turns to Sly. "I didn't want you to find out this way but I'm sorry for it and thirdly." She explains now facing the blue raccoon. "Stop being so vile towards your own son."

Sly doesn't have the reaction that Penelope has been expecting for all of these hours, combined with the fact that his father hasn't been what they call the nicest guy you would ever meet. There is nothing evident on his face to suggest an imminent attack on her. She thinks that she worried too much about it to justify all of these previous precautions that she took. There is no time to concentrate on that for now, she focuses on protecting Sly from his own father. That's something she didn't think would happen when she first got him.

"I see you have a cane with you, did you get that from the local gift shop or something?" He jokingly asks Sly but at this moment the momentum is definitely with Sly and Penelope at the moment and Connor knows it. His attention seeking has definitely quelled down for now. Physically he may be larger than Sly and slightly taller but he is not the one who is on top here. Penelope walks back out of the room to let them sort out whatever they need to do in this newly lit room. There is nowhere for them to hide, just an empty room full of lasers.

"So," Connor begins, coming to conclusions. "You are my son then, that must mean I'm 20 maybe even 30 years in the future. Is that mouse your girlfriend? Because she, she has what takes to be a Cooper. I mean, if she got me, then she is definitely good enough."

"She is." Sly flatly states. There is a long pause as Sly sees his father's reaction of confusion turn quickly to project a confident visage to his face.

"I don't know what drugs you've been taking in this world but that is definitely false. She isn't even a raccoon." Connor explains.

"That's what I thought as well, but that what it is and you have to accept that if you want to get back to your own time. For now, let's just find a way out of here." Sly calmly explains.

"That's not going to happen any time soon you see, because, I think I like it here with all this advanced technology surrounding me. One of those tiny computers out there is more powerful than the most powerful computer I own in 1981. You have hard drives that go into the terabytes!" He explains. Sly doesn't want this to turn into another 'Otto' type incident with the ancestor begging for future technology to be taken back with them. That the problem with all these needy thieves, they want it all and they want it now.

"If you don't go back then I won't exist." Sly warns.

"A minor inconvenience for you then." Connor answers. What does one say to that? A tiny thought creeps up on him, the realisation that he might have been better off that his dad was dead. It is an awful thought for one to have about one's father but in all possibility it could be true. Sly didn't want to grow up like his father, being so ruthless and violent. It's not what he as thinking when he was listening to stories about all the thefts he had undertaken in his glory days as they were. Sitting on his lap in that armchair he always saw him sit in at that farm made him idolise his fathers efforts to steal items without a price tag, but time changes everything.

"Just come on dad, we are going to get you out of here."

"I'm staying and that's final." He reasserts.

"Is this something to do with me? Do you always have to think that you are better than everyone else?" Sly finally asks.

"It's because I am." The arrogance of this statement only infuriates Sly, how could his father be so selfish and arrogant, that's not what he thought of him.

"You see? This is why Dr. M will fall out with you after your separation." Sly explains.

"That's completely false, they love me. They would die for me and we are the best gang in all of history, which includes the now."

"This is not about being better than anyone else." Sly asserts.

"Are you so sure? Without that attitude, our family would not be in the position that we are in right now in 1981, I can't speak for you because who knows what you have done with this great name." He says. Sly just wants to walk out on his father but he can't. He has to break this personality that he has put towards him and set him straight so his own future can be assured of.

"Do you have no honour? No respect? No love for anyone?"

"It's called getting the job done, it's called being ruthless and if you truly want to know why I do this is because of one person, well they aren't a person anymore. I guess he'll come for you at some point through your life seeking to end it but when he comes for me I will be ready and defeat that mechanical monstrosity and become the more revered Cooper in all of history."

"Clockwerk is dead." Sly says.

"Do I defeat him the future?" He asks, awaiting his claim to be processed by Sly.

"Nope." Sly rebuts, not wanting to take any glory from the occasion. There was no glory in defeating Clockwerk. Nor any sort of pride that Sly took for himself. He was more focused on his own gang, particularly Bentley after his tragic loss and not the dissolving Clockwerk parts.

"So I guess it was your friend that did it." He clutches at this last final hope to keep on denying it.

"Me and my gang did it. I'm not gloating about it. To be honest, I'm glad that it was done."

"Your gang? I see no gang with you, where are they this gang you claim to have?"

"I'd say we are having a rough patch at the moment." Sly honestly responds. Now that he thinks about it. He wonders how Bentley is right now; does he really want revenge that much that he would stop at nothing? He can't look back on that right now, he can only wait for them to meet again. He hopes that they can still be together and this is just a hiccup in their relationship, could Penelope really be the one to separate the gang like a hot knife through butter.

"You see, I have the better gang." He says, finally he thinks he has one better area than Sly. The complete pettiness of it all only makes Sly feel a bit sorry for his dad on the inside. His complete obsession with being the best is his attempt to drown out the one quality in him that all Cooper are said to posses. The one that caused Sly to be in Egypt in the first place. Empathy.

"Can't you just try to relate to me here. I'm trying to save my gang from the director the building you are trapped in right now from tearing apart everything that I know and love about being a thief. Surely you've had troubles that you had to face and overcome. You don't have to act like you're invincible when you are around me, I know you are not like that." Sly says, trying to get that intrinsic empathy to peep out of his hard shell in order to see who he really is. There is a moment of mental battle inside of Connor's head as he tries to continue with this adopted persona. It is like watching a kettle with pressure building up inside and waiting for the release. The look on his face as he does this is like he is choking on something. Sly becomes a bit concerned for his welfare but he manages to speak.

"Why must it be so? That we have this, trait, if you can call it that. It makes thieving so difficult." He finally pours it out. "I can't just do something without this moral baggage that hangs over me like a raincloud, constantly dampening me with its barrage of thoughts and obligations I have to follow. Why can't I be more ruthless so that I can acquire more loot and wealth? And above all, why can't I stand on lasers instead of having to slide on them?" Sly doesn't have the answer for that last question. But he does know what he feels like right now. At times Sly would have wanted to be more ruthless and finish off certain things. None more so than when he could have sent Le Paradox falling to his death and he could have saved himself and he wouldn't have to be in this position he is now. But while empathy has been said to be the downfall of the Coopers. It can also be their greatest strength.

"Come here dad." Sly asks with his arms out wide ready to embrace for a hug. His dad willingly comes forward and they come together, Sly can't remember ever having done this as a child. Even though he is 29 years old, it still has the same effect as if he was 8. There are no tears, it is only quiet as this hug tries and succeeds in making up between them.


	31. Chapter 30 - Leaving the Building

"Come on dad, we need to go now." Sly quietly says. Despite all of these close and intimate moments, they are still in the bowels of Interpol.

"I need my lasers first." Connor says, desperate to get his babies from the wall.

"Take as many as you need." Sly answers. Connor goes along the walls and picks off all of the lasers from the walls and puts them in Sly's thigh pocket.

"Do you have a cig?" Connor asks Sly as he picks off the lasers.

"I don't smoke." Sly replies back.

"Damn it, they're not going to be happy if they face me while I'm cranky." Connor says while he puts the lasers in the thigh pocket. "We need to get back my stuff, they took it away from me and secured it in one of these rooms but I don't know which one. Your 'friend' might know, she probably put them there." They don't have to go far to find the contents of the box because once they re open the door, said box is sitting at the door. It contains his clothing, which are a very dark blue shirt with long sleeve all the way to the wrists unlike Sly's, which only go just past the elbow. He grabs the belt and a pair of skin-tight shorts of the same colour as the shirt and finally grabs his mask and ties it around his face. Just seeing his dad in this kind of gear is empowering to Sly. Having someone like his father in his childhood would have advanced him in his thieving techniques by many years but he wouldn't have the gang or even Carmelita.

"You ready to see how real thieves do it?" Connor explains as he picks up the cane from the box and twirls it around to make sure he's still got it.

"I'm ready." Sly says as they both sneak out of the room and go towards the main room. There is no sound ahead of keyboards clattering or machines whirring apart from the whooshing of the fan as it spins around. They turn to see the room is devoid of any analysts. All they can see though is Penelope dragging one of the bodies across the room and into a rubbish compactor. She presses the button to make them splat and turns around to see the two of them standing across the room.

"Sorry, you're a bit late for the action." Penelope shouts across the room as the muffled sound of body parts crumbling under the force of the compactor breaks through the metallic compartment. "I thought I'd take the initiative."

"I was looking forward to a fight." Connor says to her.

"Look, we need to get out now because the director is coming back on his plane and he will surely come back for us."

"You didn't need to do this." Sly explains. "They had nothing to do with it."

"Some people just get in the way." She says as the sound of the compactor shutting off finishes. "Don't worry about the computers, I've run a program that creates fake leads, right now you are sitting on a beach in Baja, Mexico."

"You know computer programming as well?" Connor asks.

"Yeah, but we need to go now." She says running up to the stairs to get them out of there.

"I don't know where you plucked this one from but she is a gem." Connor tells Sly as they run up the stairs.

"She's not my girlfriend." Sly explains. "Long story short, she's a Cooper as well."

"So you aren't on drugs then, well I guess your friend is a gem anyway." Connor tries to politely complement Sly on his new finding as they bundle into the elevator. Penelope presses the button quickly and repeatedly presses the 'close doors' button in an effort to hasten their progress. The g force kicks in as they rise out of the subterranean bunker and reach the main building. The elevator pings and Sly readies himself to check for people outside.

"Wait here." He says as he goes invisible. Connor is stunned by the use of the shadow power, no one has been able to perform that move since the technique to do it was lost in biblical times. He wants to find out more and turns to Penelope for answers but she isn't there as well. He certainly believes it now. Sly walks into the main area with all the cubicles and sees that they are half full with returned agents and returned analysts. More are coming through the door every second that passes by. The Director must be close by, the only other reason they would be there is that they have found out they are there, which has definitely not happened. Sly returns to the elevator and presses the button for the top level. Once the doors close, they both become visible.

"We can get out through the top then, the director isn't here so if we escape via the roof, they shouldn't notice us." Sly explains.

"The perfect time to show off my laser slide technique." Connor notes as they reach the top floor. The elevator pings to reveal nothing but a perfectly clean office, like it has just been renovated.

"This way." Penelope announces as she runs out and turns a corner down a narrow corridor. They follow her towards the stairs at the back of the floor, which they climb to get to the roof. A door opens them up to the morning skyline of Lyon, nothing much out of the ordinary for them. The one thing that catches Sly's attention is a fast moving helicopter that is coming straight for them.

"It's him." Sly says as he points out the helicopter in the distance. They all get on the other side of the buildings pyramid shaped roof in order to be out of sight. They look towards the river, it is their only way they can escape without being seen, but they would have to pass a main road. People would surely recognise them as they crossed either by foot or by laser. Anything that would be considered open or visible is out of the question. Their only option is to wait in one of the gaps in the roof to be out of sight until the helicopter has landed. Sly must protect his dad at all costs until he is safely back in his own time or Sly would cease to exist. They wait in silence as the sound of the helicopter blades becomes louder and louder until they are only about 30 metres away. They hear the slight thud as the helicopters skids land on the newly constructed helipad on the roof. They wait until they can hear themselves think to try to look up at the presence above them. Sly can only peak his invisible head above the parapet in this hole but he see what is against them. Guards are stationed on every corner of the roof. He can hear the directors booming voice across the roof.

"You get every man and woman back here now, we've been duped." The director says as he rushes into his office via the stairs. "Get GIGN on the line." He says before the door shuts behind all of the following entourage that he has.

"Any ideas?" Sly whispers in the cramped hole they are stuck in. But out of nowhere, Connor pulls out an alarm clock. Such a classic technique pioneered by the Coopers. Connor sets the clock for 5 seconds and throws it onto the centre of the roof. The outward facing guards see nothing. He counts out the time with his fingers to the others and they hear the burst of ringing that comes from the alarm. They see the guards walking so close to them with guns drawn at this disturbance. Suddenly, Connor makes a quick burst at one of them and defeats him while the others are distracted. The quick hand combat of Connor is mesmerising for Sly to see. The body is not flung off the building because that would attract unnecessary attention. Sly gets out of the hole closely followed by Penelope. They stay as low as possible to the ground to remain hidden. The ringing stops and they all turn to the outside of the building. Connor gets behind cover and gestures to Sly and Penelope to go around the other side and take the rest out. They understand this and go invisible and rush to flank the group of guards. They enter the unsuspecting group of guards and take them out before they know what hit them. All of them were confused at their comrade's fall to their knees at the sound of the cane connecting with them. They have no time to reach for their weaponry before they are all down. The two of them rush back to Connor who is already setting up their escape. He positions a laser aimed at the ground in the park.

"So you are good fighter then." Conner acknowledges.

"And you're a good thief." Sly says back, realising that the lasers were in his thigh pocket and he has one of them out. They wait as he positions it at the right angle.

"Okay, follow me." Connor says as he jumps onto the beam of coherent light and slides down towards the green grass of the park. Sly follows behind with Penelope being last, she was the most hesitant about doing such a thing. She didn't think it was possible before she saw it just then. They pick up considerable speed down this incline with the wind rushing in their faces. Connor jumps off the laser beam before he hits the ground and lands safely with a forward roll. Sly does the same and Penelope jumps off buts falls over having failed to stick the landing. She picks herself up however and gets ready to run.


	32. Chapter 31 - The Question

**Parc de la Tete d'Or, Lyon, France. 10:48am 28th July 2013**

"The plane shouldn't have been found yet and if they did, they'd have to get a warrant and everything like that which take days to get." Penelope explains as she accelerates off the ground towards the train station. The others follow her along not wanting to be separated, they only have a small amount of time before they find out about the guards lack of speaking or anything at all. Such a broad daylight getaway is difficult even for Sly. The darkness of the shadows and the night is his main advantage in sneaking around. But in this open park, there is no hiding place apart from the trees that only provide cover from above.

"Where are we going now?" Sly asks to Penelope running beside her.

"Back to the plane, to the train station." Penelope replies.

"Are you crazy? We won't last a second on there, everyone will know who we are." Sly explains back.

"It's the quickest way to the airport." She explains.

"We need a car." Connor says.

"It's too risky." Penelope says back, not realising the irony of that statement. The route that they are taking goes around the lake, which is nearby to a road. Down the path they run with the shade of the trees their only protection. They reach the exit of the park, still only a few hundred metres away from the building they escaped from. They think there is no doubt that they have noticed and that they are in for a chase but they see nothing from the top of the building except for the parked helicopter.

"Across the road." Sly points out the row of parked cars ripe for the picking. They run for the cars dodging the stationary traffic parked on the road. Passers by see who these thieves are and worry for their own safety, not wanting to attract their attention and not wanting to stop them for fear of retribution in the form of physical punishment. The gang doesn't focus on them though. They are the least of their concerns despite the media campaign and all of the bad publicity that has gone towards them. The gang knows nothing of what has been said of them and it is good that they don't. Such descriptions of violence and horror only reserved for R rated literary works has been shocking the groups of people who live in this simulated fear of one thief. The population have become paranoid of theft, security related items sold out within hours of the first announcement. Most small time thieves have laid low over the past 24 hours, most criminals have done the same as well. The brave few keep about their criminal ways in an attempt to sustain their lives over this difficult period.

They reach the other side of the road and go along to find a suitable ride. They settle for the fastest car they can find in this small street side carpark. A small matte black sedan that has been 'tastefully' pimped up with huge rims and similarly huge exhausts. Black tinted windows obscure the view inside. Just from the look of it, they know it should be fast. Cooper is ready to smash open the window to unlock the car but Sly has a more discrete approach. He takes out one of the skeleton keys he has and opens up the car with no destruction required.

"You let me handle the driving." Connor says as he forces Sly out of the path into the drivers seat.

"I've got it dad." Sly says as he works out the six point racing harness. This car has been stripped out of any sort of luxuries; only bucket seats and a fluoro orange roll cage adorn the interior. Two seats are there, meaning that Penelope is forced to find space in the back being the smallest one of the group. Sly turns the ignition of the car and a thunderous roar emanates from the engine. Sly is confidant that it will be fast enough. He turns to face the back window through the roll cage and sees only gridlock still behind them. They only have one exit now; Sly puts it into first and drives onto the footpath with the wheels spinning on the rough gravel of this traffic island. They drop down onto the other side of this road and race down the road, wanting to be anything but stationary. Penelope is quickly figuring out a route.

"You have to turn around Sly." She shouts over the engine. Sly does what she says and tries to pull a handbrake turn but overcorrects and spins around too much. He moves back into the correct lane to go in the other direction, he knows how to drive himself around but hasn't had much time behind the wheel with Murray around. Sly has dabbled with driving especially in his younger years when Murray taught him all his moves when he learnt how to drive. He is surprised at the ease his hands move around with the gears and pedals. He must have the best driving instructor in the world. The wheels spin furiously as Sly tries to bury the accelerator in hope of a hasty getaway. The torque from the engine is too much for the friction of these semi slick tires. Sly meets up with the gridlock again and heads for the footpath for an easy way around. He can't honk a horn because that is gone to save weight so he revs the engine to get people moving out of his way. These bystanders duck into gaps in the buildings such as the doorways or the foundations. Sly drives up to the intersection just as the lights finally turn green and he floors it to get ahead of the moving traffic. He re-joins the road and sees the big building to his right that they have just escaped from. Sly backs off the accelerator a bit so that the noise doesn't attract attention. The worst possible thing would be to be brought down because of a minor misdemeanour.

"Is everything okay back there?" Sly asks Penelope who is keeping track of her GPS unit.

"All good back here. She arbitrarily says as she holds on to the criss crossing bars of the roll cage. The mouse looks around this bare back cabin. Only the exposed metal sheeting for the car that is painted the same orange as the roll cage is seen from her vantage point. She scans over it just to make sure they have not been tricked into something. There is a technique where the police deliberately set up cars like this in the hope that someone tries to steal it. When the car is stolen, the police are notified by GPS and can shut the car down remotely when they arrive to arrest the criminal. She sees no such electronic device planted in the car. Sly continues his driving along the road at a fast pace but not flat out as to avoid causing suspicion. Connor only looks out of the window and at Sly, whom he now has mutual respect for. He thinks now that Sly is a more than capable heir to his fortune and name. But he won't make it easy on him to find its location. He will plant the seed in his mind early in his life in a museum somewhere. A place that he won't realise until the time comes for it. Technically, that has happened and will happen. There is no contradiction; it all depends on the perspective. Suddenly pops the question.

"What happens to me in the future?" Connor asks to Sly. This is the question he has feared all along. What he says here could change his lifetime irreversibly. This takes Sly's attention off the road for a brief moment, this causes him to move into the opposite lane and realises this before something tragic could have happened, the pathway would not only be different, there would be no pathway full stop. Sly doesn't answer him back, not that he wants to be rude but he doesn't want to divulge any details, especially on that night in 1992.

"Are you going to answer me?" Connor asks, fearing that he is deliberately hiding something from him.

"Just shut up!" Sly retaliates in a fit of anger that releases from all the pressure of not wanting to say anything. Connor recoils in his seat and backs off from Sly who is now looking remorseful at what he has just done. Connor just looks away and pretends as if the question had never been answered.

"I'm sorry dad." Sly apologies. "I didn't mean it, I was just…"

"Now that I think about it, I guess you don't want your path to change, so you don't want me to do anything out of the ordinary." Connor answers, hitting the nail on the head. "You must have had good life then, considering you don't want to change anything." Sly thinks over this statement at all of the pros and cons of his life. Bentley, Murray, Carmelita. All of these people having such a profound impact on him is the main reason why he doesn't want to change his path. Such company like that is bestowed on only a few where friendships are as unbreakable as can be. That friendship is being tested severely at this moment.


	33. Chapter 32 - Distractions

**Luxembourg City 11:12am 28****th**** July 2013. **

The wallaby and the vixen walk slowly down the smoothly paved street of Luxembourg City, looking for a car that would suit his inner 9-year-old, something that would destroy your face when the accelerator hits the floor, something where the grip is monstrous, and something that can beat a souped up van to Lyon. That car has not yet appeared for him, all of these cars are just super luxury vans, something a senile but rich old man would get around in while sitting in the back and having a chauffer do all the work for him. The idea make Joey feel old himself. Carmelita is still worried about his pickiness because it is only slowing her down. She also thinks about Sly and their latest acquisition together. This even makes her think that she might have an early retirement and live with Sly in some isolated place where no one could touch them.

"Just take one of these cars and get us out of here." She begs at Joey, who is still looking around at all of the cars to gauge their performance. He doesn't answer back as he checks for things like the tires wear. He moves on around the corner where his jaw drops.

"Pinch me." He says in awe. Carmelita walks around the corner and she can see why. The most powerful car in production is parked on the side of the road, no doubt by some playboy banker who earns millions per year, financial crimes are such a bore to her, they have no action to it and use terms she could never understand. Joey walks up to it, but slowly, in reverence to its presence. It is like an artwork that isn't going to be stolen; it is there to be admired. Joey feels so bad that he has to break into it. That would damage its carefully made body panels with the scrapes made by the thin metal strip he uses to break into cars. It is like he is tearing open his own insides when he fiddles with the lock-picking device to get inside the car. It is like a piece of it is inside him. After his internally painful episode, the door opens to reveal a quilted interior of the finest cream coloured leather. Just touching it's seats makes him feel as dirty as a garbage can. Carmelita just forces him out of the way due to his hesitation and claims the driver's seat for this part.

"Get out of that seat." Joey says in complete hopelessness, like a dream has been whisked away from him. He trudges over to the passenger seat and gets in, sad at the fact that he has to watch. Carmelita this time gets to work hotwiring this car, Joey wouldn't dare intentionally destroy such beauty. Despite her legal background and all of the strict paperwork at Interpol, it is in the field where she gets into gear so to speak. She throws away all of those concerns to Geoffrey and gets to do what she does best. Getting crims locked up. The car is hotwired and the two wires are crossed to produce a spark required to get the huge engine to start up. Once it does though. It sounds as if they have the keys to a small nuclear bomb. Even the short reverse out of the space is enough to shake the ground. This picks Joey out of his mood, like even having the ability of doing that is so naughty. She slowly turns the hypercar out of the space and head south towards the highway. It shouldn't be hard for them to find Murray. They just have to look for the armada of helicopters tailing him.

**15 kilometres south.**

"Can't you call off these things?" Murray complains at all this attention, hoping Bentley has all the answers to their problems.

"It's impossible since they can see us, there's nothing I can do to make the van invisible." Bentley replies while monitoring the radio traffic from the police. He even has a video feed from one of the TV helicopters following this pursuit. This turtle has conquered time travel and overcome the loss of the use of his legs but has yet to discover the key to invisibility.

"What is it that we are doing anyway?" Murray asks to Bentley, suddenly realising that he doesn't know the answer to it himself. Bentley strings out the rhetoric that he has used to justify this entire trip.

"We need to get Penelope back because Sly got her out, she has managed to trick Sly into getting her out though their family connection." Bentley explains. "She needs to pay for what she did." Murray, at first, is convinced of these words that have been repeated so often by Bentley over this trip. However, Murray begins to think otherwise. He suddenly realises he can think this over for himself, what has Bentley been telling him all along. Has he really been that naïve to constantly accept what comes out of Bentley's mouth? Surely he trusts Bentley, they have been together since childhood, and he wouldn't lead him astray like that? Murray dismisses the idea on the back of their friendship but even this on this hulking hippo, the thought creeps up on him like a fly towards a cookie. Murray takes a quick look to the side to check on his friend, to look at his features, to see if what he thinks is right. He can see no such things that can give him the answer. He goes to plan B. His plan B in life is to follow the 'golden rule' of destruction, break stuff. He is going to break the current silence between them with a question.

"What has Penelope actually done?" Murray asks Bentley, the taping away at the keyboard doesn't cease while he rings off the reasons.

"She killed Dimitri, she ruined Otto, she almost made me loose my guts, she stole and sold off Sly's cane and most of all, betrayed my love." Bentley answers back as his voice grows into desperation at what she has done and that he is always on the receiving end of it all. He becomes rather agitated that he has to name and shame not only himself but also their gang and all of their recent failings. So many things have gone wrong in such a short amount of time, was this going to be the end right now, being chased by the police down a highway with the world watching? He doesn't want to go like that. He would prefer to die at an old age where his legacy would remain for millennia and not in a cell. Murray keeps pressing on with his questions, driving is second nature to him so he can't lose concentration.

"Why?" Murray asks. It's a question that they will not get the answer to without referring to the recorded testimony from Penelope late that night. Bentley loads up the sound file and turns up the volume so it can be heard over the engine.

"Why am I doing this?" Penelope's recorded voice says while Bentley tries to find the correct passage. Murray takes this to mean that she doesn't know what did she also.

"Okay, here's the correct part." Bentley asserts as he clicks to play.

"He was just, so focused of this secret project of his. He was going to end up like one of those mad scientists that you see on TV. Just pawing around fragile ideas that would grapple his psyche like your hands on anything valuable. His great mind was being wasted on such fruitless projects." Is played over the speakers of Bentley's laptop. Bentley looks at Murray, hoping that he comes to his own conclusions.

"Is that it?" Murray asks desperately, like he's eagerly anticipating the next instalment of this aural episode. "Play the whole thing Bentley, just showing that is like saying you have a pizza with just the cheese. You need the base, the tomato sauce and all manner of treats on top." He replies back to Bentley. Bentley has no choice but to scroll to the start and play it again. Bentley now has his own doubts about what he is doing, he is going to listen to what she says closely, not like before where he only caught bits and pieces of it as he drew his plans for Penelope. Bentley, even with his vast intellect, can't remember the true reason why he started chasing after her in the beginning. He has undoubtedly changed it in his mind in order to keep these 'emotions' on a constant simmer, ready to come to the rapid boil when required. Now, the heat has been taken away and he grapples with the proverbial lighter to start it up again. Bentley has no choice but to reveal it to him.

"I never knew who I was for a long time…" The tape starts with Penelope talking to Sly. Murray even gets into a higher gear to lower the sound of the engine so he can hear this for himself. He passes straight through spike strips as he listens to this, trying to figure out who Penelope is for himself. Murray had thought she was just like a female version of Bentley, they were both smart and could build stuff, they were in love! Apart from that, he doesn't know the details. The police outside try to get their sirens to wail as the traffic pulls over to let this procession of cars flow through the motorway at high speed. Police cars of all types are following, squad cars, vans, and high-speed pursuit cars. The helicopters fly above, providing both the police and the public with images of this pan European pursuit.

The minutes roll on by with this monologue of one's life flowing through the air around them. Murray listens to it with wonder, Bentley listens to it to formulate a good and reasonable reason to back up this plan. They are still several hours away from Lyon. Bentley knows that Sly and Penelope must have been in Lyon for a while now. If they have been caught or seen, he would know about it. It is what he doesn't know that scares him the most. He doesn't know what Sly and Penelope are doing right now, that is what scares him the most. Not the recent atrocities made by Penelope, but he can't figure out why they would have to escape like this and go over to Lyon. It has to do with Interpol for sure he thinks, but he doesn't know if he is correct. There shall only be one fix for this and that is time but for that, the only solution is to wait.

The result of the changing vibrations in the air that most people call sound is that Murray looks at Bentley for reasons. Like Murray is going to blame Bentley for what Penelope has done. Bentley can see it as well.

"I know what you are thinking Murray, but it's not true." Bentley says in an attempt at self-preservation. But he is seriously wide of the mark.

"Are you sure that you know who you are? I don't know who I am." Murray replies back.

"Of course you do. Your name is Murray, You drive vans for us, and you break stuff. I mean, how could you even suggest such a thing?" Bentley mockingly says back. Not reaching into the meaning of what Murray was trying to allude to. The subtle subtext underneath the perceived meaning that Murray is trying to convey in such simple terms.

"How could you not know?" Murray asks. He can see that Bentley has taken it the wrong way. "The orphanage." Bentley can't believe he overlooked that one, it was the start of his life there, delivered as an egg to it's doorstep. It is a tiny piece of knowledge that Bentley has not as much forgotten to find out but more that he has ignored it. Being caught in the past is not what he wants to be. He has all the family he needs. Why go looking for a family that you don't need to be with?

"Why can't we find out?" Murray asks. It is a valid point that their true origins have been unknown for all of this time. Even in this fast paced life of crime they have never stopped to think about how they are. They have all just heard about Penelope's story, how she knows about herself and her left of centre way of coping with it. Bentley hypothesises that he has never found out because it wasn't his concern, almost to easy and to mundane for someone of his intelligence.

"You know, out of all of the things I have done if have never once thought about doing that." Bentley replies. For good reason as well, the orphanage wasn't the best place to be. They always preferred to be out on the town; usually it would be Bentley watching Sly working on his climbing at the local park with Murray eating what can only be described as a big bucket of chicken. Bentley takes great pride in being able to see Sly's development from a child to the thief he is now. It is who he always was meant to be. Sly has never has this problem of not knowing who he is, it is there for him to see and read. His family tree is solid. Whereas Bentley's and Murray's is unknown to them.

"After we finish whatever we are doing here, we are gonna to find out, just the two of us. What'd ya say?" Murray gleefully asks. Bentley realises that he has slipped a bit in terms of allowing Murray to be sidetracked and focus on something else, that could get dangerous.

"I don't know about that, Let's just finish this first and we can talk about it later." Bentley replies. He hopes that Murray will forget this conversation and that they can move on with their lives. Bentley doesn't want to find out. It is perhaps the only piece of knowledge that he doesn't want to know.


	34. Chapter 33 - Futility

**Outskirts of Lyon, France. 11:20am 28****th**** July 2013**

"Can you hear a beeping sound back there?" Sly asks over the sound of the engine. Connor doesn't know what he is talking about. He hears no such beeping from his side of the car.

"I can't hear anything from here. Maybe you have just been subjected to a period of loud noises that could be attributed being in the plane." Penelope explains, offering a typically scientific explanation.

"No, I can hear it. Beep, beep, beep." Sly says, mimicking the sound of the beeps that keep on going. The others give him a look to suggest he is insane.

"Are you sure you haven't taken any sort of drugs" Connor asks. Continuing with his own ideas on his son's behaviour.

"I'm perfectly sane and sober. But I keep hearing this beeping, it's driving be nuts." Sly replies back, agitated that he can't show it to the others. There is a pause as they try to hear it. But the others still can't hear it, even when Sly revs down the engine, it only makes their search for the sound more futile. Even Penelope with her big ears can't hear it. No more needs to be said between them. It is impossible to tell Sly otherwise. This sound that he is hearing is definitely real. Sly can block one of his ears and get rid of a part of the sound when he turns his head towards the left front tire. Penelope is just as eager to help Sly out with this one.

"Where can you hear it?" Penelope asks.

"I think it's from down here but I'm not sure exactly where it is?" Sly says as he points with his right and steers with his left. He is pointing toward the footwell.

"Can you make that sound again?" Penelope says as she gets out a phone, ready to record the sound out of Sly's mouth.

"Beep, Beep, Beep." Sly says with the microphone next to his mouth. Connor thinks this is just a silly exercise that will yield nothing. Sly doesn't feel self conscious around his father, he has done similarly stupid things around others without regret. It's all part of the job.

"Okay, calculating frequency and period. Calculating amplitude, factor in the change in medium and that should give us…" Penelope says out loud as the phone analyses the sound. It is definitely not an ordinary phone, she has seen to that. "It's a TF430, they're onto us." She shouts.

"A what?" Sly asks quickly.

"A tracking device, they must have mounted it underneath the rims." She explains. "Why didn't I check that before?" She asks herself, she suspected the police might have something like this setup on such a car that would be prime target for any gangster or thug looking for a sweet new ride to impress their mates or girlfriends. Her little search in the back wasn't enough.

"The TF430 has an immobiliser. Sly, when did you first hear the sound?" Penelope asks as she finds new information on this electronic hindrance.

"About 2 minutes ago." Sly replies, unsure of the actual time but it is good enough for Penelope. It is all the information she needs.

"We only have 3 more minutes to go before they reach us, given the distance we are away from any units."

"We won't make it there before they catch us." Connor adds.

"I've got an idea but it's you're not going to like it." Sly says to his father. He realises that he is not a child; in fact he is about the same age as his father. He doesn't need some sort of permission from him. Sly is command here.

"Take the wheel." Sly says to Connor as he starts to undo all of the belts and straps for the seatbelt.

"It took me a minute just to get into this overbearing seatbelt." Connor says, frustrated that he has to take it off again.

"Ok, Penelope you take control." Sly says.

"Sure thing." Penelope says as she manoeuvres around the roll cage and into the cramped front cabin with all the bodies so close together. Sly gets the window open and climbs out onto the roof, working it so that always a hand is on the steering wheel. Penelope moves the seat forward and up to get into a driving position that she can use while Sly crawls along to the source of this high-pitched beeping. He looks into the wheel well and under the body is a small device with a green light on it. The beeping is not loud but it is omnipresent, even with all the air rushing past him, making his tail flap in the wind and point in the opposite direction of movement. Sly watches the wheel moves up and down with the suspension, if he put's his hand in there it could come in more than one piece. Sly turns back into the car.

"Dad, cane please." Sly says as he peaks into the window. Connor looks behind him in the back for the two canes, He sees the black cane and grabs it, the seat doesn't allow for much movement but he can reach far enough to get it. He notices it's lightness and it's feel but his newfound pleasure is handled over and it feels like he has lost contact with the future. A piece of the future he wanted to know more about. It is out of view when Sly grabs it and moves away from the window. Connor can still see him blocking and partially obscuring Penelope's view, the tail batters against the windshield, unable to counter against the force of the wind. The art of tail control is an often-understated quality of thieves such as this. The tail can get into places that are outside of your control. It is why Sly has practiced on many occasions where to put the tail when performing certain acts. For example, on laser beams, the tail needs to be as close to him as possible so that lasers don't chop it off or set it on fire. But against the force of nature, it is powerless and a waste of energy for Sly. Sly is lying on the bonnet, feeling the heat from the engine underneath. His head looks over into the wheel well again, lining up his cane to destroy the device before the cane gets lodged in the wheel. The wheel doesn't move up and down that much on these smooth motorways. Sly's right hand grips the cane below the hook and in one sharp move he forces the cane inside, colliding with the device and dislodging it from it's position. Sly reacts and takes out his cane before the tracker falls underneath the wheel and is destroyed into tiny pieces of unusable circuitry. Noting the good job done, Sly crawls back into the car where Penelope has already moved out of the seat and waiting for him to return to the wheel. She grasps the wheel with one hand as Sly slips back into the drivers seat. The position is cramped considering Penelope has been driving. This is readjusted and all is back to normal. Just, not quite.

"How much further?" Sly asks. Penelope pulls out the GPS.

"About 6km." She replies as she sees Sly get into the exit off the motorway, ready to make the left turn towards the airport. He takes the corner hard, not wanting to lose any speed. Sly doesn't think they are in the clear though. That tracker would tell them enough about the location and because of this cars lack of obscurity, it wouldn't be hard to be spotted. It is this though that keeps Sly on edge despite the apparent clear path to the airport. No police cars following them, whether they may be undercover or not. Sly keeps on driving as if they are just casually driving along but in a small hurry, not wanting to mess up. A minute passes with no sign of the police and Sly is still on edge, his muscles tense and ready for action when the moment calls. Connor can see this; he himself is relaxed, hoping that Sly can get him back into his own time. He has to remember what he was doing when he went away. He was enjoying a laugh with Jim McSweeny about one of his new tattoos on his arm. He thinks he was commenting on how the artist didn't do such a good job on some of the detailing on a sword handle showing phallus type shapes up close. They must have been in England somewhere, he remembers now. Enjoying a rest on Dr. M's estate in rural England, this was by no means an old castle on the inside. It has labs underneath the laser cut lawns. He remembers how many times he has walked along looking at the grass while standing on the lasers as they moved up and down the extensive grounds. It was a rudimentary obstacle course of some sort. Re tries to remember what his last heist was, he has done so many that they all sort of fade into one. Was it another diamond? Jewellery? Nope, that was last month in 1981. It was a small gold bar, not worth much in relative terms compared to their other heists. Dr M. calculated it to be about £35,273.85 exactly. It was not the value of it that was concerning him. It was about giving another thief a lesson on how to steal.

This iteration of the Cooper gang was notorious for stealing from other criminals. Not because of their 'master thief' ideology but as the police discovered, it was to show other criminals 'how it was done'. Jim noticed these thugs with their gold chains and bling, flashing it around Eastern London like it was a winning lottery ticket. He watched as an argument erupted by rivals at a corner. Someone tried to rip the chains off him and run but got what he deserved for such a poor attempt. He got a cap in his occipital lobe, which caused blood to be spilled, and cops to be called as they all ran and dispersed like flies. Jim to had to run out of the scene, being a wanted criminal himself. But not before taking a picture of the gangster. After the film was developed by Dr M., Connor remembers how it was almost too easy to lift the chains off this gangster in his apartment with his gang while he was asleep. He refused Dr M.'s offer of some chlorophyll to help him along but where is the fun or challenge in that? Jim was downstairs giving a beating to all his accomplices on the couches below. After that the chains and accessories were melted down to create a small gold bar. Enough money to be worth doing but certainly not one for the history books.

Connor returns to the real world after having remembered that he is still being chased after all. He just was that relaxed about getting away that he focused on something else. A dangerous mistake when on the job that can lead to dire consequences. Sly is still going along slightly more relaxed but still is waiting for all this calmness to end. Without any action, he feels like they are only waiting for the right time. Sly is looking into every car, suspecting police to rush out and ambush them. He getting a bit paranoid from being all taught like a bowstring, any more tension could cause him to snap. He needs to release it somehow, Sly is not aware of this, it is only apparent to those around him. The way his hand grips the steering wheel like he does with his cane. His back is straight, all the muscles tightened up and his eyes dart down briefly to the seatbelt, mentally undoing it in preparation for the real thing. Sly is not scared of what might happen despite all of this. He is ready to face whoever is out there to stop him.

But nothing happens.

They continue to drive along the road and are now in sight of the airport with its gleaming metal overcoat that makes it look like it has scales. The sun is up high so no reflection onto the surface causes them to be blinded by the midday sun. They drive up closer and closer, Sly expecting an ambush at every point of cover and at every blind turn. They are running out of distance between them and the plane less options for an ambush. Sly has determined that there must be an ambush yet if he is true. There are running out of time. They enter through the airport security gates like no one was watching, because someone decided to take a lunch break, They approach the southern hangars, driving slowly, Sly turns his head quickly from side to side, trying to look behind anything that could hide rows of military and special forces coming to get them. Behind baggage carts, small private jets and utility vehicles. Sly's heart is pumping fast with adrenaline as they reach the hangar doors. They stop and turn off the car where Sly gets out fast, not wanting to be trapped inside. He leaps out of the car and forward rolls to take cover behind the rear, like he's being watched. Connor gets out casually and so does Penelope, they are still conscious that they are being hunted but not paranoid like Sly.

"You need to calm down." Connor says to Sly. "You look like you could use a cig if I had one."

Sly is still silent as he waits for the hangar door to open, their hulking mass and slow opening is making Sly jumpy and twitch, even more so than he is.

"Sly just calm down." Penelope says as she sees Sly's left leg wiggle like he would do if he were scratching his back, only this time it is at a frantic pace. Like he is worried. All these physiological aspects and things almost go unnoticed by Sly as it is not what he is focused on. He just wants to get his father back before this ambush of his comes out and gets him and takes him away. He is willing to do anything to get his dad back safe to his own time.

"You're clearly not alright." Penelope says, concerned for his welfare. "You're sweating bullets and…" She says as she goes to check his pulse. "You're heart is beating way too fast, you need to relax now before some thing happens to you."

Sly is still silent as a momentary glance away from the growing gap into the hangar. It is the only time he was not looking out for trouble and yet it was for those short seconds where they have pounced.

"Look." Connor says as he points to the SWAT teams that exit out of the hangar. They fan out to reduce their escape chances. Sly turns back around and sees another team come from behind to surround them. They have encircled these three Coopers. Now that his fear has come true, he looks for a way to escape.

"You are surrounded!" "Get down on your knees and drop the cane!" the leader shouts over to group who are now back to back to back. Sly is too twitchy, he has become like a trapped and scared raccoon that becomes unpredictable when cornered. Sly quickly goes invisible and tries to make a break over the top of the guards, but he gets as far as one step before a flail of darts come at his invisible body. The darts show the outline of his body as the guards close in on him and pick up both his visible body and his cane. Connor and Penelope are also taken; they know when the numbers are against them. There is no point in trying to run like Sly, they go willingly with Connor's cane going being taken from him as well. Penelope is frisked of all of her electronic devices hidden in her tracksuit combo. They get pushed into a separate armoured van each. The door is shut on them and the two bangs on the back indicate for them to drive off. After getting so close they must return to the start again.


	35. Chapter 34 - The Director's New Toys

**Metz, France. 11:43am 28****th**** July 2013**

Nothing has changed. Police still follow, Murray drives on, helicopters fly and civilians get out of their way. But behind them they are being caught up. Following closely behind in their new set of wheels is Carmelita engaged in some sort of pursuit mode onto the van that they see in the distance. It may be moving fast but they are moving faster, they have to get through the procession of police vehicles tailing them. All the police cars see this speeder and try to close in or block it in but their cars are inferior in terms of speed, the acceleration is too much for the other cars to handle, they still can't create a sufficient block to stop their forward passage. Once Carmelita breaks through the chasing pack that is the police, the road opens up from where the gap between the van and police are. She guns it down the highway, careful not to make a mistake at such high speed. The sweeping right hand turn along the highway puts such g-force into them that they are pushed into the sides. She still keeps it hard down as she sees the straight open up for them to catch up.

In the van, Murray can see this approach in the side mirror the sleek black lines of the hypercar make Murray in awe at seeing on in real life for once. But when he sees the occupants, he goes to put down his right foot. The van can only go so fast along the highway and is acceleration is not enough to stop him being left behind by the hypercar. But they are still going 320km/h on a public road; they dare not touch with each other, as any contact would result in a massive accident. Murray is forced to trail behind Carmelita as they make their way down the left lane, which has been cleared by police to stop them from harming the public. It becomes a game of cat and mouse, one being in front for a certain period of time then being overtaken. It turns into a stalemate of speed. The police just have no answer to that kind of speed, even their fastest cars can't catch up and now the helicopters are having trouble keeping them in sight.

"At this rate we'll be there in one hour." Joey calculates.

"I don't think we can keep that speed up for that long." Carmelita replies back, taking note of the fuel gauge, which is 80% full.

"Where did they get that from?" Bentley asks himself. Murray answers back.

"It's a TT1000. We'll never be able to keep up with that." Murray says. Even for such a fearsome driver, he has to admit that his van is not as powerful or as light. Meaning that they can't achieve the speed. So they will have to be cunning and smart to get in front. The hyper car starts to get some distance in front of them; Murray just can't keep up on the corners. Once they are out of sight, Murray can see a helicopter come down low for a swoop onto their vehicle. But it does not make contact. Murray can see the helicopter fly in front of them and see the passenger holding a megaphone.

"Sly Cooper has been captured, you have no reason to keep going. Pull over now!" She shouts over the megaphone to them. They are both shocked. This snaps Bentley out of his search for Penelope, could it really be true? Bentley searches for answers in the only place he knows his true, ThiefNet. He searches the forum and already a page has been created with hundreds of posts already. He scrolls through them, most expressing their shock or relief that he is in jail. Bentley just gets angry with himself. He could have stopped this, how could he let Sly get away from him and get himself caught? Murray is on the verge of crying but his resolve hardens as the non-existent tears dry up, Murray becomes even more focused on the road ahead now, wanting to hit every apex and max out every straight to get to Sly as quick as possible.

"I'm not stopping for you or for anyone when Sly Cooper is in trouble." Murray shouts back at the helicopter that delivered such terrible news. The police helicopter pulls away from the van and now begins the phase where it is not a race, but a time trial.

**Interpol HQ, 11:59am 28****th**** July 2013.**

"Is he awake yet?"

"With that much sedative in him, you'll be lucky if he's up in an hour."

"You make sure I speak with him first, if that son of a bitch wakes up you get the hell out of there. Do not make eye contact at all, you understand? Do not even act like you've been near him, he must not see anyone else but me."

"Yes sir." The doctor walks out of the sealed room. A medical bed has been moved into this old bunker that has been quickly converted into a prison just for Sly. Sly is strapped securely to the bed that he is motionless on. The vast concrete walls of this bunker are impenetrable, only one exit through the large steel door with giant deadbolts for locks. Only the cold fluorescent glow illuminates this cold space. The electronic heartbeat monitor is the only piercing noise that reverberates around this room. The slow pulsing of Sly's heart, only 35bpm, such is his physical condition. The Director watches from the entrance, he sees the feet of this retched being, his blue clothing stripped from him and nothing but a pale green hospital shirt covering his body. The slow clatter of the director's designer loafers against concrete in time with the beating of Sly's heart creates an odd and dischordious harmony. He has been waiting for this moment for a long time; this is the ultimate prize that will guarantee his position at the top for years to come. He takes a look at this thief, this vile creature that has plagued society for years.

"So, this is how it must be. The natural progression of criminals. You may have evaded this organisation for so long, you always find a way, but oh not this time. I am not going to let you leave this room for the rest of your life. You will have to defecate in you own excrement. Just think about that, you have lived in such borrowed luxury and now you will be reduced to this. I think it's perfectly fitting. Death shall not be your calling, oh no. Death is too easy. No, you will become an exhibit, even a metaphor, or a juxtaposition. The biggest one of them all! All sorts of people will come from all over the world to admire this capture, and they will remember that I was the one who did it."

The director's fat fingers stroke the body of Sly, feeling the physique, going along the length of the body up the chest, along the neck to his face, his hanging face. He feels the underside of his jaw, using it to move the head gently to inspect it. He feels rather unclean having to handle Sly. He checks things about him, he moves his zip tied arms, just feeling the muscle underneath the fur, the fur itself is a tad dry but isn't fragile, the director runs his finger through it, no tangles emerge. This sort of dominance creates an unashamed intimacy between him. Being able to touch and feel this specimen, all alone as well. He is the boss now; if someone comes in he'll just fire them, because ruining this very close moment between them is unforgivable. The Director has had his moment alone with him incapacitated and now decides to walk out of the room. The lights turn off, the door bangs into place, and the bolts clank against their steel casing. That was a very uncomfortable moment for Sly.

"Do you have an update on the others?" He says once he makes his way into the elevator. His assistant is waiting for him there.

"They are continuing on course sir." Caroline replies back. "They have been joined by a TT10000 hypercar who appears to be in a race with them. Travelling in excess of 200mph southbound into France south of Metz.

"I assume the police have done nothing at all." He asks, taking a swipe at the police's inability to stop one car.

"They've tried road blocks and spike strips but none have worked so far."

"They never work against a gang such as this." The doors of the elevator open to a frantic and full office floor. "Do they even know who they are dealing with?"

"They should know."

"No, they just don't okay, this hippo is the chameleon of our age, he's been a racing driver and a wrestler, and no one in this fricking organisation thought; 'hey, let's go and arrest him while he's alone.' You let him be, criminals won't give us second chances, so why reciprocate?" He rants back as he arrives at the correct cubicle.

"Ah." The Director says to make his presence known; he sees the closing of the window that he knows is his own computer.

"You have been quite the double agent, working from the inside and passing it the out." He sarcastically says.

"I haven't done anything." Geoffrey says back in a reactionary response that reeks of futility. The Directors bulky arms pick up the pipsqueak out of his chair, the other's look at this, their eyes rising above the cubicle walls eager to see some action. The Director raises his other hand and punches him across the corridor. The office is still and silent as the punch echoes across the room. All sorts of employees, whether agents, handlers, analysts and even the cleaners stop to watch, but no one dare to move any closer. The thud that Geoffrey makes against the cheap carpet is excruciating, but not as much as his jaw and nose, which both this blow has broken. He want's to scream but only muffled whines of agony peep out of his mouth. The Director slowly advances towards him.

"You lousy, rotten dirtbag! I shouldn't have trusted you with anything!" He shouts at the cowering and whimpering Geoffrey at the ground. Everyone who is watching is stationary at this sight but in side they only feel shock, less so in the agents who face such violence more often, but not like this. The brutality of it is jaw dropping. The Director stands straight above him.

"You two." He shouts, pointing at the closest two people to this bloodied traitor. "Take him away and put him in a cell, after you clean all the blood away from his face." Two of them exit from their nearby desks and approach but struggle to find the right position, they move their hands closer but retract, not knowing how to do this correctly.

"Just grab him!" He shouts at them, none too pleased at their reluctance. Not wanting to end up like the man they have to carry, they pick him up. This causes great moaning to echo around the floor. The person at the back tries to support Geoffrey's head against his chest in order to support it but that causes even more pain. Another one steps into the fray to support his head from underneath. The Director watches on as they slowly shuffle out of view. This creates such a vacuum where it implodes on itself. Everyone doesn't know what else to do but to return to their posts. Slowly, one by one, they go back their shops. This will become the stuff of legend, the sort of gossip that lives on for months, even years.


	36. Chapter 35 - Strange Meetings

**Dijon, France. 12:48pm** **28th July 2013**

The fuel tank is empty and their perceived lead is thinning with every second the fuel pump fills up the car. It certainly is a head turner for those who are making the journey along the motorway. Some have their phones out, taking pictures of this work of art. They will only see such a car in real life only now unless they are very lucky. The tank is sizeable, the fuel bill will be large, but Joey's bank account dwarfs any price tag. They pay the bill at the machine and much to joeys delight; he gets this final leg of the journey. As they are driving out of the slipway to continue their high-speed ways, they see the quick approaching van, still going along the road at high speed. They re-join the chasing pack, accelerating out of the slipway and they pull up beside the van still with the police parading behind.

"I could have caught these people with my eyes closed." Carmelita remarks, as she

"Good thing you're on our side, which makes me think. Are you going to just go back to Interpol? Because I think that when you walk in there the first place you're going is in a cell." Joey asks for two reasons. One is the obvious, the fact she is also hunted by them along with Sly Cooper. The second is a more self centred one, one less cop on the streets is better in his eyes.

"That's too far in the future to think about." She replies, dodging the question, but it tees up the perfect counter punch.

"What about the thing inside you?" Joey replies. "You gotta admit that has some sort of future planning in it." Carmelita doesn't want to talk about that night, one of many nights that none shall hear of. She tries to remember it for a second, but the overriding aspect of that night was love, just complete and utter love for Sly. There is no other word for it.

"Hey." Joey says as he snaps his fingers in front of the dazed Carmelita Fox. "You still with me here?"

"Yeah, I'm still here." She says, having being broken out of the trance. At this time, The van drives alongside the hypercar and Murray puts down the window at 250km/h. Murray gestures for Carmelita to do the same. She obliges but the buffeting is relentless. They have to shout across the small gap.

"Guys, Sly's been caught!" Murray shouts. The two occupants of the hypercar shocked. All this racing has just been futile and worthless. This petty competition between friends has gone too far. The result is that their friend, the one that really bonds all these different groups together, has been captured. They have lost sight of what is really important to them. Just like they have seen with the 4 thieves, the infighting between the gang doesn't work because as a team, they are stronger than the sum of the parts.

"Let's stop this racing and go get him back." Murray shouts. Bentley passes over a phone to keep them in touch. He only uses a closed system of phones so that he can't be tracked. Murray throws the phone into the open window below of the TT1000, it gets blown back a small distance because of the wind but not enough to deflect it out of the path that Murray has decided.

"Follow me guys." Murray says as he shoots ahead to shield them from things like roadblocks and spike strips. The van has been equipped with things like an upgraded ram like they used in Russia, it has enough power not just to displace firebugs but entire cars from stationary position. Helpful for getting through roadblocks. The big red button covered by a thin Perspex cover is a special touch from Bentley; he knows that Murray loves these types of gimmicks. Anything for that is big, red and covered by something means that it's powerful and dangerous, which it is. The pneumatic pressure released in one of its blows is monumental, the force applied to the thick steel ram is transferred to the object in front and the object always loses. They go through this same pattern along the highway, police still trying to stop them to no effect. They continue south, soon they will come, just hold on Sly.

**Underground Cells, Interpol HQ. 12:54pm 28****th**** July 2013**

It has been a less brutal entrapment for Penelope and Connor, they have cells that are next to each other, they are just like normal cells. A thick steel door prevents their escape. Penelope sits in the corner, observing the white concrete walls of the cell. Only a security camera is the only way of viewing the occupant from the outside. This screen is viewed right to the director's computer where a viewer would see Connors pacing up and down the room, looking at the door, searching for a way out. Normally he would just pick the lock from the inside, reaching around the bars to pick it open. But in the future, the police have wisened up to that trick. He still refuses to stay inside this prison, mentally he rejects the idea but physically he is trapped. Penelope is already resigned to being trapped for what she has done. All that collusion with Interpol is certainly not going to help her, most likely it will be to her detriment. The last time she was in prison, she got out with a deal but not much could persuade The Director now that he has Sly Cooper.

The Director walks slowly past the two cells, first past Connor then past Penelope. He takes a look through the tiny slit in the door, which has one-way glass so they can't see out. He is pleased that all this work and pressure is giving him some results. Not as much as his prize prisoner though. But they will be a nice side dish to the main course of a well-grilled raccoon. He then turns his pleasure to his grimace as he walks onto the next room. It is a small medical room, usually reserved for agents who need urgent care or in the event of a siege. The white tiled room is filled with specialised equipment such as an MRI and CT scanner. But the equipment being used now is an x-ray to see the extent of this broken bone. Doctors and nurses take care without suspecting the gaze of the director's dark eyes peeking inside. He leaves the entrance to that room and walks alone to his next destination. He knows that they have to save that little runt. If it were truly up to him he would be dead, and it wouldn't be a very clean and painless one either. He takes the elevator down to see his newest asset again. It has been about an hour, just like the doctor said. The whirring of the elevator is the only sound as he descends down but not as far as the war rooms to the bunker prison. It is not the only bunker in this space, it is also used to protect foreign dignitaries in the event of a mass attack so many are laid out in a grid stemming off this one dimly lit corridor. It was only cleaned up as the word of Sly Cooper rang around the building; they have not needed to use these until now not to keep something out but to keep someone in.

"Is he awake?" The director asks on a walkie-talkie while standing outside the steel door.

"Not yet, but he should be up any minute." A voice reassures him on the radio. It's good enough for the director, he swipes his card and enters a code, and then fingerprint scanners and a retina check. He steps back as the door opens up slowly, the hinges straining under the doors weight. The room is as he left it; Sly is still motionless on the bed with huge thick leather straps still keeping him restrained. The heart rate monitor is still beeping at that abnormally slow pace. The fluorescent tubes buzz on as they become brighter and brighter with each passing second, illuminating the concrete space inside also brighter. The door clangs as it reaches its maximum opening angle and bangs off the hinges, causing a loud thunk the echo around the room.

"Glad you're still here Sly Cooper." He says with distained sarcasm. "You know, I'd have thought you would have escaped already considering the continual evasion you keep doing. What are a few leather straps to such an escape artist like yourself? If you're so good why not escape, the door is open right now, hell you could get me while you're at it. I have no guns or knives on me. Go on, try it." He taunts the motionless Sly.

"No?" He asks sarcastically towards the raccoon that is now right beside him as he stands by the side of the bed. "Well, I guess you aren't as good as all the hype that I hear around the office. I knew you were nothing else but that. You're not more special as any other thief; every thief is just a common thief. They steal for money and steal for nothing else. It's the same with every thief I've seen. No matter how much they say they are doing it for something else, in the end it's always about the money. Speaking of money, you must have amassed quite a lot of treasure, I would like to know where you find a place to keep it, and such proceeds would help my organisation greatly, perhaps even this country depending on the amount. Since you aren't up yet I'll go but when you do wake up I'll be there, make no doubts about that." He says as he walks out slowly, but faces Sly in the hope that he would wake up just as he walks out. The door shuts again and the heart rate monitor rises back up. There is nothing he can do but wait, wait in silence, wait without motion until the time is right. Being patient is not the best skill of Sly, but he needs to exercise that skill for a bit longer.

"How's the chasing pack?" He asks his assistant who is once again waiting in the elevator.

"They're heading south, just past Dijon." She replies, showing him the live satellite feed from her tablet.

"Let them come, we'll be waiting for them." The Director schemes.


	37. Chapter 36 - Background Information

**Chalon sur Saone, France. 1:00pm 28****th**** July 2013**

"I've just mapped out the complex from the top, it seems that the only entrance is through the front door. No other weak spots, the bottom part is heavily fortified in terms of the code that protects it's blueprints and if my assumptions are correct, the rooms inside of it. It is down below where they will be kept. Once the details for the lower ground section are uploaded, I'll update you guys again, Bentley out." The turtle message across to the hyper car following behind. Bentley is busy on the ThiefNet forums, trying to gather as much intelligence on this building as possible while his hacking code goes to work on the real thing. All replies that he gets are sullen tales of this new Director of Interpol they know not much about. Many tales of extreme rage and brutality against the respondents swell this Internet page in minutes. This interlocked and collective knowledge of all thieves has helped out a lot. What Bentley doesn't know, he can usually find out here in this dark corner of the Internet unfound by any law enforcement agency. What he gets is a brief profile of this Director.

He attended a private school in the upmarket section of Paris, and was pretty average with his marks, nothing too special to write home about. In the physical side of things he was always talented, most replies Bentley gets are about his tendency to throw punches that make people fly across the room. Strangely, he didn't do boxing or any type of martial arts. A link pops up on the screen, linking Bentley to some school reports on the Internet. Frequent references were made to his violent nature and capacity to hurt others, comments by teachers always saying about how he kept on blaming his ways on people stealing his stuff from school; pens, calculators, textbooks. However, no teacher ever saw his side of the story and recommended he'd be thrown out of school on the count of his violence. The next stop this trail is a police academy enrolment form. Aged 16 years on the sheet of paper and they happily allowed him to join at first but soon he was thrown out for getting into fights with other cadets over tiny things like the placement of items in his locker. Despite his age he won most of the fights. Down the bottom of the sheet, there is a handwritten scrawl in black stating 'keep an eye out on him, has potential if he can be controlled.'

The next logical stop for someone like him Bentley thinks is the military and sure enough a record pops up of his file, being promoted to sergeant and worked in an elite force with the French army. Numerous missions indicate this guys success, several commendations and completed missions in many different countries. He was mysteriously pulled out due to an 'adverse mental condition' when he was still at the peak of his career. There is gap for years and years where Bentley assumes he went off the radar and into obscurity while his 'condition' is being fixed. Somehow this guy makes his comeback into the world of the military, now as a team leader and not just the muscle. Going on to perform higher than before. Bentley finds some psychiatric notes of this man in classified archives, which are only too easy to crack open. One such note read 'mental illness, possible PTSD?' which the PTSD scratched out and a list of many other mental illnesses listed out such as OCD, paranoia and anxiety. The conclusion was inconclusive and nothing was ever made concrete. When Chief Barkley announced his retirement, the director was one of the first people to express interest in the job. The interview notes found him as being very keen and motivated, especially in the crime of theft. What got him the job is unsure even to the public who know him as a war hero who is now in charge of Interpol.

Finally after this research is done, the ping indicates the lower floors have been drawn out now on Bentley's plans, programs already going to work on it to find a weakness in the construction, operation or maintenance.

"I'm in now Murray." Bentley notes to Murray who is closed on the road ahead, getting safely and quickly to Interpol HQ is the most important thing on his mind, with less regard to safety than speed. On Bentley's little laptop, the security feed is being loaded up. A library of cameras, hundreds of them in fact. He will have to search through each one of them quickly to find Sly. This method is time consuming but Bentley works through each camera, scrolling through the list until he finds Penelope and Connor in the cells. They both look resigned to a long stay in there. Penelope is more resigned than Connor, she is the one who has done the most damage, and her head rests face down into her legs, which are bunched up against her body. Bentley tries to not think about her but it's the only thing he can think about. This technical mastermind has no hate chip for him; he can't sustain a steady diet of hate and jealously for long. He draws the parallel to Clockwerk, to even compare himself with the metallic owl is frightening to him. Does he feel that old love once again that he held so dearly? Not just yet, he is very reluctant to try again with her after what she did to him and the gang.

More scrolling ensues in order to find Sly, the list of cameras seems to go on forever until they reach the last four which are all centred on Sly from different angles. They see Sly on the monitor, Murray included. They see how restrained and trapped he is, with the giant metal door blocking any exit. The door is too thick to blow up with any of his bombs, even with a nuke it would struggle; it was designed to fend off such attacks in the first place. Bentley turns to the security guarding the door, it would be a cinch if Sly hadn't stolen his new keyset to beat the keycard but the other three would be very difficult to do, requiring an eye and a hand to get through. Bentley turns back to Sly for a second, hearing the beep of the heart rate monitor. They seem a little, too fast for his resting heart rate. Bentley pulls up his logs for Sly, he has done a battery of tests on him in the past, that was 8 years ago but the should hold similar for now. Sly was already in peak physical condition at the age of 21 and is the same now, Bentley knows of his workout plans during Sly's 'rest break'. The charts reveal that Sly is not at resting heart rate; Bentley times the beeps and calculates 50bpm instead of the 35bpm on his computer. This shows that Sly is not asleep like he looks, but is doing something in his head.


	38. Chapter 37 - Total Internal Reflection

**Sly's Thoughts in Prison **

The exit is not far from me right now, only 10 metres away, I could make that in under 2 seconds which means I could escape if the door is already 15 seconds into it's 20 second closing cycle. These leather strips are digging into my chest a bit now, stop thinking about them Sly, the pain will go away once you ignore it. Think of something else, something happy. Oh, that night was glorious between you and me Carmelita. I wish we could do something like that every night but no. I guess your pregnancy isn't going to allow for that. Is the pain gone yet? damn still there. Where was I? Oh yes. What should I do to raise a child? I can't ask my dad because he hasn't had me yet and wouldn't know anything. I can't ask Bentley, Murray or Penelope, they were raised in orphanages and I don't want my child to grow up in that dark and grungy place. It may have worked on me but I don't consider that to be the ideal model for aspiring thieves.

What if he is a boy or she is a girl? I don't even know the answer to that. What do I teach first, pickpocketing, jumping, sliding, street smarts? No, Sly, you're worrying too much about it right now, when the day come you will be able to figure that out, you've still got a big steel door and 100 feet of dirt to escape from. Ha, steel. It's a steel door and I'm the thief trapped inside. Such an expert wordsmith you are Sly. I could survive as a bard back with Galleth, singing tales of thievery across the country. Ha ha, it was a good joke Sly, but seriously, that door isn't going to be moved by your jokes. I guess neither is time so just sit back and relax in this not so comfortable bed while being tied down with leather straps and zip ties around your wrists and listen to the sound of your voice. Yep, the sound of a smooth talking criminal. No wonder Carmelita fell for you superfly Sly. Oh wait, there's Dimitri talking through me again. Such a sad ending for him. He'd lighten the situation up a fit. Just the sight of his clothing is enough to get a crowd of their seats and bursting with laughter. Maybe that's a little too insulting to his fashion sense, he got some things right but maybe I should say his style was avant-garde to put it kindly. Wait a second, if Dimitri is coming through me then maybe I can talk back! Don't be so stupid… Dimitri! Are you out there?... nothing, at least no one will ever know I tried. Luckily Bentley doesn't have some sort of mental mind reading device or even that annoying Chinese guy. He was a real piece of work, same with those other thieves.

Do I have no competition whatsoever now that Le Paradox and Clockwerk are gone? Maybe that is le paradox, I thought getting rid of those 'thieves' would be a good thing for me and make be better. But in the long run, is anyone else going to be better off? Who is my son or daughter doing to face? The challenge has been wiped away by me for all who follow to have the easy path. But the easy path isn't challenging, it isn't that fun or honourable either. Just another thing that I have inadvertently stolen from others, I am just too good of a thief, stealing when I don't even know about it. Or is that just ignorance on my part? Am I too focused on protecting what the family name is and rejecting what the future holds? What legacy would I leave to my children? I could tell tales of defeating Clockwerk, Clock-la, how Arpeggio went through all that work to revive clockwork so he could be immortal, only to be killed off before getting the chance. The Cooper vault, now that's something I'll need more time to think about, why not now then Sly? You have no other choice but to think right now so might as well do it now. Should I tell them straight up about it's location? Maybe not, they'll have to earn that right just like I did and have to prove themselves in the gauntlet to get to the inner sanctum. What should I build there? I know that Bentley repaired it for me with Penelope. I have no special move that I can pass on like the ninja spire jump or rail slide. I'm just another Cooper.

Sly, don't be so down on yourself. You've done heaps of stuff that will be remembered greatly by your kids and their kids and their grand kids. You have defeated Clockwerk! You've come back from the deepest depths of grief and loss and from the furthest regions of time. But I have yet to come back from this little contraption. That's nothing for you, in no time, the gang will arrive and break me out of here and you will be able to continue on the Cooper name as the best thieving family in all of history! But I've got raise a child now. That's what I mean Sly, you have to keep the line going by turning this child into the next greatest thief in the world. Thanks me for pointing that out, I was more thinking in terms of myself. You are a bit selfish Sly to think of it like that because when that child comes out kicking and screaming, that child is what you will care for the most, not yourself, not anything else. But that will be in 9 months time, I have plenty of time left. Look at yourself; you're clearly not the same. You have been captured more times in the last week than you did before you're long hiatus. You need to know when it's okay to stop. I'm not stopping, how could I even suggest such a thing? I am a thief!

Sly! Just stop arguing with yourself, how could you even do that? Great, now I'm asking myself questions when I will provide the answers as well. Entrapment is such a cruel thing to have but then again, Penelope was right when she said it is a great place to think about yourself.

**In Another Nearby Cell**

These walls cave into me again; now that I'm here they will crush me like a toothpick. They will show no remorse for what I did to them and they will make sure I know it. But I know it already, I know many things, too many things to etch out on these freshly painted white concrete walls. Should I think of an excuse? They'll never buy that. Now that Bentley, Murray, Carmelita and that wallaby are coming after us. Who knows what Bentley is going to do to me? Staying in the cell might even protect me from his dastardly plans. He's probably been plotting this moment ever since i tried to show him what he could be instead of what he is. He's probably got some huge contraption that's very efficient in providing maximum pain over the maximum time. Facing Bentley is going to be difficult unless he has a change of heart but I give a 99.7% chance that he won't be coming with flowers and a box of chocolates. Let's see, if they left at the indicated time which was… 7:40am I think. And the distance being about 900km south. The speed limit in the motor ways is 130 km/h so dividing it out gives an answer of about 7 hours. They will arrive at around 3pm if they follow the rules.

But they are gang of criminals, they won't follow the rules. They probably are rushing over at the highest speed possible. Now that calculation is going to shave off a couple of hours at least, they should be arriving now then. Wait, no. That's a bad thing; I'll have to face Bentley sooner than expected. What am I going to say to him? Sorry that I betrayed you for money and power, that I've been such a blind and stupid fool that only looked out for herself and never for others. It's a start, the start of the end. What words can wash away the past when you have a time machine? Do I look past the past and convince him of the future that we still may have. Oh Bentley, I should have never done that to you in the first place. I want to cry but all my tears have been used up. All of them! Bentley will never take me back when he arrives. He will just move onto the next cell and act like I don't exist. If death is truly impending on me from that turtle, I would not like to be near him when his frightening death contraption takes me whole with frivolous indifference, knowing neither friend nor foe.

Time is against me, when has it not been so? In minutes they will arrive and the tiny heart in my body will pump with adrenaline as the wheelchair glides past my door. If he stops, the worse shall be assumed. I which case I must prevent my demise. Get up Penelope! Okay, stand here by the door. When the door opens inwards it will protect me from his field of vision. I'll climb up onto the top and go over the top and out, if he is alone he won't spot me leaving. If the others are standing outside then I have no choice but to surrender. I'll accept what is coming to me anyway; I'll pay the price for my actions which no jail shall give adequacy to. Wait, have I accepted that I'm dying? You are alive right now and you are going to make the most of it. You give it your best shot to win back Bentley, the perfect piece of poetry shall be my weapon while his will be bombs and saws and whatever other infernal devices that he'll thrust towards my tiny body. But it won't be enough this time, the pen shall be mightier than the sword once again for this brief moment then I'll never refer to it again because frankly, it's completely false. I'll take a Japanese samurai sword over a ballpoint pen in a fight any day of the week. Now poetry, I don't know where to start with the words but the structure, a Shakespearean sonnet shall be the foundation where I'll build the best make up in a relation ever!

**Lyon, France. 1:31pm. 28****th**** July 2013**

"Have you set up all of the blocks yet?"

"They're in place now sir."

"How about plain clothes? Are they in place?"

"They're stationed all around the building sir."

"Are the teams stationed like I have planned?"

"All teams are go sir."

"Perfect, This is going to be very loud as they try to get inside, they'll have the police on their tail like a dog chasing a cat, they'll arrive here and we'll get them just like that."


	39. Chapter 38 - Closer and Closer

**Just outside of Lyon.**

"Murray, it's up to you now." Bentley shouts to the driver as they turn off the motorway and enter the outer suburbs of Lyon.

"Okay, you ready for the plan like we explained." Bentley communicates over the radio.

"I'm ready." Joey says, ready to get going and follow Murray through these narrow streets. The pace with Murray keeps on going through such tight streets and past the historic buildings, frightened people stand back from the road and hugs the walls as the van drives past with the hypercar following close behind, their engines bellowing out a song of horsepower and internal combustion all over the city. The entourage of police cars following them have been called off by the director himself, they would never be able to keep up with them in these narrow streets. Murray is still frantically driving towards his given destination. He imagines the timers and speed in his head, like he is trying to beat his personal best or even the world record lap time. He didn't exactly do that on the racetrack but it works for him, it just enriches him further into the zone. He spots the bridge to take them further into the centre of the city. A roadblock has been placed there, Bentley was expecting this, bridges over the river would be the obvious choke points. But not roadblocks like this. A row of skips crudely filled with concrete to weigh them down over the bridge. If Murray deployed the ram it would shoot the van backwards instead of the obstructing object. Murray applies the brakes as the van squirms under the force. Joey applies his brake and stops in a shorter distance than the van. Murray does a handbrake turn to turn back around and head for an alternate route.

"Bentley I need directions now." Murray shouts, knowing that the primary route has been compromised.

"Go straight and veer right at the roundabout." Bentley commands, he also speaks into the walkie-talkie to give Joey the instructions as well.

"How far right?" Murray shouts, there are many different exits off this roundabout.

"Over there." Bentley says, pointing in the right direction. They race along the roads, the police cars trail behind in the distance, unable to match these two performance machines for pace with two expert drivers at the wheel. This road leads straight to the Peripherique, the ring road around Lyon or indeed any other major French city. This one goes right under the river in a tunnel that leads them right to the other side of the city, right near the Interpol building. They rush, single file onto the exit ramp and negotiate around the traffic.

"They're falling right into the trap." The Director notes, watching their progress from a camera mounted on a police helicopter above. He sees their hasty entrance into the underground.

"Underground teams prepare to move in." The Director commands via a walkie-talkie.

Meanwhile, Joey is having a blast of a time in the tunnel, putting the window down so he can hear the full roar of the engine being reverberated against the tunnels circular concrete exterior. This sensation is only brief as they briefly exit into the sunlight and back into the darkness, still speeding along, setting off every camera that they pass. Just as they enter into this tunnel, a whole line of squad cars enters off the slipway behind them with sirens blazing. She realises what they are doing.

"They're going to trap us inside." She says to Joey who is unchanged at this revelation.

"No sweat, Bentley would have thought this through and I'm sure someone of his mental capacity would have foreseen such tactics and figured out a way to beat them." Joey replies, calm and content in the blind faith of Bentley's plan.

They continue driving along the motorway with the police cars holding their own but not gaining ground either. Carmelita becomes increasingly concerned about her instincts being right and radios to Bentley.

"Are you sure we're not being trapped inside?" She asks.

"No, no, no. I've figured it all out." Bentley replies back. In reality, he hasn't got it all figured out. He frantically types in his computer and curses at the poor reception underneath the ground. The maps that he has show only one thing. That if they have blocked in the other side they will be going straight into a cul de sac.

"I'll handle this Bentley." She says as she winds down the window. "Tell Murray to slow down and let them catch up."

Reluctantly, Murray obeys and the police cars pull up along side with guns drawn to shoot out the tires. In the dimly lit tunnel, the pulses of electricity from the shock pistol illuminate this yellowy-orange glow to a white and blue light show as the shots ring out, destroying the engines of the cars, rendering them useless. The cars skid to a stop.

"Turn around Murray." She shouts, Murray pulls a very tight handbrake turn in the two-lane tunnel. Murray figures he knows what to do next. Joey tries to turn the hypercar around but it's dimensions make for a difficult turn. He does a 180 degree turn and floors it towards the stationary police cars, the smoke spewing from the tires. The officers have gotten out of their cars and take cover behind with guns drawn. They try to shoot at the engine but that's being reinforced so no damage is done. The Murray ploughs through one of the oncoming lanes, shooting the police cars further down the lane. The traffic is backing up due to this disruption, It's going to be a snails pace at best out of the tunnel, the traffic moves over to the one side as the gang tries to exit out. Joey worries intensely, not wanting to scrape or scratch his new ride.

Seeing all of this is the Director, who is looking via the tunnels security cameras. He is in his favourite place, right beside Sly. He still gets reception underground from the Wi-Fi antenna in these underground rooms. He shows the vision on the tablet to Sly who is still trying to fake his drugged asleep state.

"Just look at this right now, if this won't wake you up then nothing will. Not even if I stab you in the chest, that's how convinced I am of this vision right here of your gang being trapped inside a tunnel." He pauses, waiting for a reaction. "Nope, I thought you cared deeply about your friends. You have been with them since the age of 8 if I am correct, the Happy Campers Orphanage if I remember correctly. Now if you would like to watch your friends demise then I suggest you wake up and maybe we can try to sort something out. Sly is still motionless, every once of energy is being funnelled into keeping his heart rate steady and low.

"If you insist." He says while picking up the walkie-talkie. "Make sure you have the instruments ready. Enough for 6 I think."

"You see, if you truly cared for your friends then you could just work something out like men at the negotiating table. I can be reasonable if you are willing to do the same. But if you don't say anything or are hostile to my demands then you will have to hear the pains of your friends one by one until you crack open like a can of worms. Is that clear?" There is still no motion from Sly.

"Well, see you in about 10 minutes." The Director concludes, the door thunks and shuts, Sly is torn between getting up and biding his time further. He decides that this is no longer the time to be passive and rest, now is the time to dig his gang out of complete ruin. For the first time, his eyes open and see the world that he is in. He shifts his head from side to side and looks at the steel door; the only light is illuminated above him, leaving the rest of the room dark and eerie. His eyes are blinded by the light above and so turns away until his eyes further acclimatise. He sees the leather straps and the zip ties that hold him down. Suddenly, the doors begin to open again, he though he still has another 9 minutes.

"Let go of me you twerp!" Penelope shouts as the director holds her off the ground single handedly. Behind him are two assistants with another bed with straps like Sly's. The bed is turned to face Sly and Penelope is forced down and tied down with the straps. She squirms around in the grip of the two assistants who hold her down while the Director personally ties her down nice and tight.

"Tilt her up." The Director commands. A button on the bottom of the bed lift the bed to face Sly, she is at a 60 degree angle with the ground, a footrest at the bottom prevents her falling down.

"Sly, Don't keep on trying to fake it, it's the most horrible thing to see someone fail to pull it off. Just open your eyes."

Sly does open his eyes.

"Ah finally, he has awoken from his deep slumber." The Director says with sarcastic panache and pomp. From the security tape he knows when Sly has been actually awake.

"You know your not so good friend Penelope, it probably the only thing between me and you, that pink mouse. The only connection to you, is about to be cut. Very slowly I may add, and very painfully. If you do not want such a thing to happen then all you have to do are two things for. One, you will spend the rest of your life in prison where nothing can be stolen. This prison will not be escapable as it will be a cell in the ground just for you and your gang. Secondly, you go on television, and renounce your thieving ways while tell all other thieves to stop as well. Just make sure you add a nice fat and juicy paragraph about how I was so brave in capturing you. Got it?" The director continues.

"You did all this just to lock me up? Just to stop thieving all together? You have lost your mind because I'm not what you seek; I'm not going to solve your problems. Going after me is the biggest mistake you could ever hope to make and I'll make sure you know that!" Sly retorts angrily. He is pissed at the Director who just waves it off.

"Yes, yes, continue with your empty rhetoric, keep flapping you jaw and see how far that it gets you." He says as he walks over to Penelope. "Would you like to convince him otherwise?"

"Nope." Penelope simply says without any fear of what may be coming.

"Suit yourself, you're the one with the impending torture coming."


	40. Chapter 39 - You are so Lucky

"I'm sure you would need a hair cut considering your hair is getting a bit long. Let me give you one for free. Sly, just point out when you want me to stop." The Director says as he turns around with the pair of scissors interlocked in his fat fingers. Penelope looks at her luscious blonde locks, fearing that this will be the last time in years before she posses such beautiful hair. She is momentarily saved by a ringing on the tablet of the Director. He is receiving a video call.

"You are so lucky right now, you know that." He mutters with anger.

"Almost the exact same words I said before." She mutters to herself. Remembering, and regretting, that moment near the canal.

"Shut up Penelope." He lets out with fury before calming his persona; he faces the camera away from the two occupants of this prison and receives the call.

"Hello."

"Mr. Director, I believe you know who I am." The voice says, Sly and Penelope are attentive to this voice, but for different reasons. One is of elation and hope, the other is hope mixed with being scared.

"You? Get off my coms right now!"

"Your plan didn't work out so good and now I'm coming to get you."

"Maybe you could say hello to your friends just before I kill them both." He bluffs as he turns the camera around to show Penelope and Sly.

"You're not going to do that, you couldn't even beat a child at poker with that kind of bluffing." Bentley replies confidently. He has won this battle.

"True, but while you may be so close, you are yet so far away. I am only metre away while you are crawling at a snails pace out of a tunnel that it blocked at both sides. You might as well give up now and turn yourselves in."

"Not a chance." Bentley replies with Murray being seen in the background driving along.

"At least you can watch this." He says as he turns the camera toward Penelope and gets one of the assistant to hold it. As they are working this situation out so that he can get the best shot. Bentley looks at Penelope all helpless and tied up. Does Bentley feel a sense of pity for her? No, it is what she has coming but it sneaks up on him like Sly often does, he quells it inside. Bentley doesn't want to see it from the other side of a computer screen. He wants to be the one applying the pain. If cutting hair is the worst he can do, then Bentley will have things that are at least 100 times more painful.

"I'll try and match your hairstyle, okay." He says to Bentley as he walks backwards towards Penelope brandishing the scissors. But the director walks too close to Sly's feet and they trip him up.

"You think that's funny?" He asks as he picks himself up.

"I take everything that I can get." Sly jokes half seriously. But the director has had enough of it and the pair of scissors are thrust towards the chest of Sly but they stop just as they are about to hit him. Sly doesn't even flinch. The director sucks in the deep breaths and looks for a reaction, absolutely nothing. All that work yielding no results. It's just like at school, all that work exposing those thieves not even being worth the effort. It is a feeling he doesn't want to feel again.

"If you really want to make an impression, try not to do the things which I expect you to do." Sly cheekily jokes. He is really making the most of his time now, making the Director as riled and pent up as possible all in view of Bentley, who has just exited the tunnel. The bright light enters the cabin of the van.

Joey is not far behind, they see the cars that are backed up onto the on ramp so they can't go up that way, Murray has an idea and it involves breaking stuff. He readies the red button as he pulls the van up against the metal railing that divides the two sides of the motorway. The big ram pushes forward and tears off the metal railing form it's hinges, causing it to fly across the road and hit the wall on the other side, causing more metallic sparks and shrapnel from the remnants of the railing to break up. They fall across the road, causing the drivers on the other side to pull on the breaks, in effect, creating a clean path for the two cars to follow. Murray goes through the gap and a slow speed until he is onto the ramp Joey is more careful not to scratch carbon fibre with steel and ruin this bodywork. He makes it through with Carmelita exasperated at his Joey's unwillingness to dent the car as it could mean they don't take enough risks. They rev the engines onto the off ramp and find themselves back where they started. They travel back into the roundabout and see the bridge with a truck loading the skips onto its trailer to unblock the arterial road. Half of the road is unblocked and it's the gap they need. Murray races over the bridge and past the truck and row of skips. But the light disappears as they enter a dead straight tunnel. That means they are only a minute or so away from Sly. They know it's not over yet; the police have been crafty in their tricks, almost too crafty for the police. Carmelita suspects it's not the police figuring out this operation but the Director himself.

And she'd be right.

The Director meanwhile is going nuts at the road blocks being moved away. Sly is taking it all in, it is like the Director has completely forgotten about them in the room. Penelope is also enjoying her former boss going crazy as well. They keep it to themselves and try to hold in the barrel of laughs that wanting to come out of their mouths. They can both see each other trying to do this and without hand to cover the mouth it looks like an awkward sight. Their mouths looking like they are about to spill over as the breath escape through their noses. They are happy for each other, if they are about to be tortured then feeling great and happy is the way to go. But they will stop this torture as long as they can stall for long enough so that the gang arrives and breaks them out. It should only take a minute or so.

"Turn off that thing!" The director shouts at his assistant. She turns it off but that isn't enough for the director who takes it and throws it to the ground sending showers of glass and semiconductors around the room. A tiny shard lands right into Sly's cupped hands. He discretely sees the piece and knows that this is the opportunity. The time for action is now. Slowly he runs it along the bottom leather strip to create a score on it, but not to break it. He repeats for the other two pieces, being careful to allow the Director a glance.

While he is busy breaking himself out. Penelope works on distracting him, she can see the slight rubbing of the hands along the strips.

"Weren't you wanting to cut my hair earlier or were you just to chicken to do it to a girl. Let's face it, you were never really in charge while I worked for you, more like you came begging for my services." Penelope says, conscious of stringing it out to give Sly the maximum amount of time.

"That is complete and utter lies." The Director replies, still in his aggressive state.

"I'll tell you what is though, it's that you won't achieve… whatever it is you're trying to achieve and we'll win." Penelope retorts back.

"Winning? Is this really about, winning? If you think it is about winning, then you are grossly mistaken. It's about getting thieves off the streets, it's about taking thieves away. I don't like having my stuff taken, neither does 99.99% of the general public. I'm doing them a favour by bringing you, Sly and every other thief in existence to justice." He explains with fury, his mouth is only centimetres away from Penelope.

"You've got some bad breath there, what you have for lunch? Stinky cheese?" She says, wanting to cover her nose but can't, her chest moves in and out form the change in breathing from her nose to her mouth to avoid the mouth.

"The smell of my breath is not going to be what you will be wincing about next." The Director warns.

"I highly doubt that." Penelope says. Seeing that Sly has decided to break out of his leather casing having made the scores and ripped them apart by flexing outwards until they snapped. The Raccoon is right behind the Director but he sees nothing.

"I think you will be more concerned about the fact that Sly Cooper has just escaped." Penelope says casually. The Director is having none of it.

"That is not happening, I will make you suffer and he will renounce his ways." He warns again. Showing his hand where the pair of scissors was, but they are not there.

"You lousy rotten thieves!" He shouts, ready to punch someone.

"You're right about the third part, but not the first two." Penelope corrects, over milking the situation.

"That's it!" He says, releasing his fist towards Penelope, on a collision course with her head. A force that it shall not survive. The arm continues its course, only to be stopped progressively by an unseen force. The Director tries with all his might to force his arm down but the arm doesn't go any further. Saved again, someone wants her alive and unharmed.


	41. Chapter 40 - Memory Aisle

"What is this trick that you are pulling on me?" He says, angrily and yet puzzled at this occurrence. He releases his arm from the force and when it moves away the force goes as well. "You've got mind powers or something? Something that you forgot to tell me?"

"Don't be silly. Now you're just paranoid." Penelope argues. Alarms ring out in the building, the howling sound designate that the gang have reached Interpol and that they have breached the perimeter.

"You stay right here, I'll be back." The Director shout as he runs out of the room and through the safe door, forgetting to close is as he makes his run for the elevator. He doesn't look back, if he did, he would see that Sly has escaped and is no longer tied down in the bed. But standing next to Penelope, protecting her. Once he is out of sight, Sly goes back to his normal state and uses the scissors to undo the zip ties on Penelope then cut the three strips away, which release her from her torture. Penelope uses her free range of movement to cut sly from the zip ties. They are now free, but they need to get their stuff back again. Sly doesn't want to be seen in a teal hospital robe and Penelope feels the same way in another fluoro orange prison jumpsuit.

"Where did you grab the stuff before?" Sly asks, referring to the clothes she got for his dad.

"I'll show you." Penelope says as they run out of the room. They run along the dark and empty hallway towards the elevator. She presses the button and they wait for it to reach their level.

"Can you try to help me smooth things over with Bentley?" Penelope asks Sly as they both staid either side of the elevator.

"I can't give you any promises." Sly answers. "Last time I saw him he was planning of ways to kill you."

"Sounds like something he would do." She replies. They go quiet and invisible just in case anyone walks out of the elevator or is in the elevator. They sneak inside of the stainless steel insides of the elevator and press the button. Sly feels almost naked in his teal hospital robe, the thin sheet of cotton flings about everywhere, the looseness of the fabric to his body is not good for being a thief. It could snag on something. They descent into the war rooms again, the eerily quiet room is only broken by the sound of the indifferent whirring fan that still spins, regardless of what happens underneath. Penelope runs down into the main area, devoid of any life thanks to her, and runs straight into the corridor. They run down the winding hallways, they seem like they are going deeper and deeper into a dark and mysterious maze. Going ever further into it's grasp and further towards wherever Sly is blindly following Penelope.

They reach a very desolate and isolated corner of the underground maze, it is a set of filing cabinets and shelves. An evidence locker. Penelope switches on the fluorescent lighting and that flickers on it's white light, showing the extent of this room. It is like a warehouse of evidence from crimes of all shapes and sizes. Row after row of industrial shelving holds items that are tagged and bagged, ranging from pieces of cloth and bullet casings to entire vehicles. Penelope is not interested in them but Sly is certainly looking at all of these items. All of these crimes going on to have this much evidence are mind-boggling. The room expands along both sides like it merging to a point, only showing the extent of all this evidence. Penelope is already running along the central aisle when she notices Sly is not following.

"Come on slow poke." Penelope jokes. Waving her hand to coerce Sly forward. Sly shakes his head to clear his mind and follows Penelope down one of the aisles, these shelves are reinforced and have steel safes and locks on them to protect this very valuable evidence. It is a section marked Cooper.

"This is all the evidence they have of me?" Sly asks. He didn't realise how many pieces the authorities were picking up after him.

"It seems like the correct amount for someone who has been doing this a long time." Penelope replies.

"Do you have a paperclip or something to get inside?" Sly asks, ready to pick locks.

"No, Sorry. How about you try to unlock those safes and I'll find something to use." Penelope suggests.

"Sounds good to me." Sly replies back as he presses his ear against the safe door to hear for the subtle clicks to reveal the code. His ears so finely tuned to the precise frequency and his hands so finely controlled to turn the dial the correct direction at the right time. The safe unlocks and it reveals his clothing. It is only a small one so he doesn't expect anything else to be inside. Sly rips off the tags and stickers that adorn his clothing and puts on all the clothes he can without taking the top off like his boots, mask, cap, gloves and thigh pocket. Sly takes a look around for Penelope and listens for her footsteps. He hears nothing so then proceeds to hastily take off the hospital robe and put on his shirt. Penelope just appears, leaning on the side of a shelf. Sly has the shirt off and Sly notices her. He is a little embarrassed but considering his physicality, it is not because he is unfit. More that he has to show Penelope instead of his preferred Carmelita. Sly quickly and clumsily puts on the shirt. Penelope lets out a small chuckle; He is so cute when he is dumb. Sly puts on the shirt finally and ties up his red neckerchief and turns it around then he puts on his backpack and ties on his belt. The outfit is complete. Penelope walks over to Sly as he is changing and shows the paperclip with a small bloodstain on it.

"It's all I could find, I hope the blood isn't much of a problem, I tried to get it off but…" Penelope explains.

"It's fine." Sly answers as his fingers automatically fix the paperclips metal wire into the correct shape. He sticks it inside the lock and works his magic to get it to open in under 2 seconds. The sound of all the drawers unlocking in this section is heard consequentially. 16 to be precise. If these are all the files on Sly Cooper's thefts and criminal activities, it has grown exponentially since the first time he saw his file on that early morning in Paris all those years ago. 9-3-7, that was the code he remembers. Sly opens the top drawer of the first filing cabinet and sees all the files with the dates labelled on the tab of each crime that he did. There are photos of the scene from every angle, papers that indicate no DNA present and last but not least, the accompanying calling card. He picks up the one that he placed in that safe back in Paris when he stole his considerably smaller file. He takes a look at it it's perfectly smooth edges, no colour has faded or edged crumpled. It's like it is brand new. Sly places it all as he left it back in the file and opens up each other drawers to reveal more of the same. Some files are fatter than others and some are just one sheet of paper but the files add up to a number over the hundred mark.

There is one thing missing from the picture. "Where is my cane" Sly asks himself as his eyes dart around at the other safes that hide various items. Sly choses a long and thin case that is up higher, too high to reach up. Sly uses his ninja spire jump to stand on the dial of the safe below and opens this safe no problem. The Cane is there, just leaning against the side of the safe. Sly shuts it again and returns to ground level with Penelope who is dressed back in her usual yellow tracksuit combination.

"You're all set then." Sly comments.

"Let's go then." Penelope says.

"No, wait. I need to get my dads stuff." Sly interjects. Penelope understands why he would do this but she would rather get moving before they are trapped inside like mice. At least one of them will be.

"It's got to be here somewhere, help me out quickly." Sly says as he shifts to other drawers and safes. Penelope just strolls up to one and points to it as if she knows all along. Sly is unsure whether to be grateful or suspicious, he goes with it anyway and opens it up to reveal the clothing of his father.

"How did you know it was there?" Sly asks.

"The label on the front helps." She replies, Sly takes a second look. It is really there. Sometimes he tries too hard to find a solution. Sometimes juts taking a step back is the best way to solve a problem and just finding the easiest and simplest way is the best solution.

"Let's get out of here." Sly says

"Already ahead of you." She says as she turns to see Sly holding the tub containing the items of clothing for Connor, as well as the cane. They rush down the central corridor of the evidence room but out of the shadows a red flashing and beeping object clings to Penelope's leg. The Beeping escalates until it can go no faster. Penelope takes off her pants and jumps as far as she can as the explosion rings out around the room.


	42. Chapter 41 - Earlier that Afternoon

**Earlier that afternoon…**

The van and the hypercar make the left hand turn after exiting the tunnel and crossing the small bridge over the river. They race down the road, heading for the Interpol building coming up on their right. The engines roar and over-run as they break hard and enter the driveway for Interpol with Murray smashing down the boomgate. They are coming in hot. Alarms ring out over the grounds. Murray skids the van to create cover for Bentley to get out of. Joey parks behind the van to protect his vehicle and they both get out and take cover behind the van. Gunfire rips out from the grass as teams in ghille suits don the grass and bushes like little tufts of weed. They shoot at the van but it is useless. Bentley loads up the computer and a new camera ball. An invention, which is just a ball with a high-resolution camera inside. Bentley throws it above the vans roof and it takes the pictures and finds all of the soldier's positions in the grass. Bentley sends this information to the wheelchair where it throws over the bombs to all those positions, getting the targets precisely right and causing an instant death.

"Phase one complete." Bentley announces. "You're up Joey."

Joey breaks from cover while there are no soldiers providing fire onto them; he sprints to the next point of cover next to the building and begins a climb up the side of the building. He braces himself against the two opposing decorative walls that are perpendicular to the cuboid shaped building. Using his hands and feet, he 'walks' up to the top.

"Ok, let's bust Sly out of here." Bentley announces as they break from cover to get into the lobby. The door is locked but Murray just breaks it down. Their speed as meant that the other Special Forces teams on the outside haven't made it in time to the correct position. The lobby is empty and looks like it has been hastily evacuated as well. They are still alert to the quietness and watch out for any ambushes that may strike them. They rush into stairwell, the elevators would be too easy to catch them. The care concrete shaft however is filled with lasers that impede their progress. They have no-one else who could manipulate their way past this obstacle. But they have to try something before they are boxed in. Bentley just throws a flurry of bombs into the stairwell destroying the lasers themselves, something that Murray approves of. Carmelita also shoots her shock pistol as she shorts out the lasers and fires their contents.

Meanwhile Joey has made his way up to the top floor where he can see the director sitting as his office, frantically on the phone with assistant and guards surrounding them. Joey only peaks his head above to keep himself hidden as he wall shuffles from 6 stories off the ground. His fingertips are only visible from the top but that is not what they are focused on right now.

"How could you let them get in like that?" The Director shouts at everyone in the office. "Where were the other teams stationed?!"

"On the other side." Someone quickly states.

"On the other side of the building, exactly where I said they would _not_ enter from!" He shouts as he paces around the office. Joey just hears this shouting and continues shuffling along the side of the building until he is out of view, but he still hears the ranting from the Directors office. "Don't you ever try to think that you know more about thieves than I do. I know what thieves want, think, do and most importantly I know more military tactics than all of you combined in this room! So find everyone who is able and get them to box this 'gang' in, prevent their escape to the top. Go, go, go!" He shouts and claps to the people who accelerate from their stationary positions and race out of the door, stopping in the foyer to get onto phones and other electronic devices to communicate this message down the organisational flow chart. Oblivious to all of this frantic motion above, Joey continues along until he can find a safe place to enter through. There are no windows to open in this building and they are also made from bulletproof glass for obvious reasons. To combat this, Joey carries a laser cutter that slices through the silicon like a hot knife through butter. He reaches one of the tiny offices and sneaks in, making sure not to throw the glass chunk to the bottom. He radios into Bentley.

"I'm in, he's going crazy up here." Joey says.

"Any details?" Bentley asks, hoping for more Intel.

"Just that he wants everyone to go after you." Joey casually states. "I'm headed for the target destination."

"Okay then." Bentley replies as they rush down the stairwell, continually smashing the lasers until they reach the subterranean floors. The dark hallways are a stark contrast to the brightly lit stairwell. White light floods out from the doorway. They turn to the right and look down past the three armoured doors.

"They're the cells." Carmelita explains as she runs up to them in search of Sly. She goes to the first one, no one inside. She rushes over to the next slit and sees a raccoon dressed in a regulation orange jumpsuit. The heart plays it's trick, filling up this love languid vixen. She bangs on the door.

"Sly!" She shouts, jubilated to see her boyfriend for the first time since yesterday. In her opinion, that amount of time is too long.

"I'm not Sly Cooper, I already told you people that." Connor shouts back, not moving from the position he is now, sitting against the wall facing the door. Now that she sees him for a second look, she sees the blue fur coat as opposed to Sly's blue clothing. She feels embarrassed on the inside but she hides it expertly. Being an agent is a good way to learn how to hide and select the right emotions for any given situation.

"Then who are you?" She asks as Murray tries to get a peak inside through the tiny slit.

"I can't see you so I can't tell how beautiful you are." Connor says, instantly starting this unrequited blind date. Bentley steps in to alleviate the concerns of Connor by wheeling his way through the crowd around the door and places a bomb of the lock mechanism. Once this is done, they step back and wait for the explosion. It blows the door's lock off but keeps the door on its hinges, which prevents the door from flying towards Connor and unknowingly killing Sly in the process. No dust settles and Connor is turned on big time. The flowing blue hair coupled with those eyes and every other part of her makes him seem like she is perfect. He is not the only Cooper who likes to delve into the opposite number.

"Hello there beautiful, come to rescue me?" Connor cheekily asks. This does no favours to Carmelita.

"Who are you?!" She shouts with pistol drawn.

"Connor Cooper." Bentley states from behind her.

"What, another Cooper?" She asks, bored with the idea of more time travelling nonsense. Just when she thought that it was over, more seems to come.

"Not just any Cooper." Bentley explains. "Sly's father."

"I see where he gets it from." Carmelita comments.

"You saving me or what? I have a time to go back to." He explains.

"Just after we save Sly." Bentley says.

"And Penelope. Right?" Murray corrects him. But Bentley is already wheeling his way further into the corridor to look into the next prison cell. All he sees is the medical equipment and a solitary figure abandoned in the dim light with bandages and a neck brace secured to him.

"This one's just a hospital room, some guy broke his jaw. It seems the staff haven't set up some sort of radiation container from all of the scanners inside, causing progressive damage to those who walk past." Bentley says as he explains the concept of radiation. Carmelita walks up and takes a look into the cell. She feels guilt override her. She doesn't say anything, she is a controlled as ever on the outside but she feels responsible for Geoffrey's injuries. The gang plus Connor continue along the corridor until they turn the corner and see the crowd of soldiers and detectives around the huge metal doors. Carmelita almost steps out into the open but pulls herself back behind cover without them seeing her.

"They've crowded everyone around that big safe door." Carmelita whispers to Bentley. Bentley pulls out his ball cam and places it on the floor with it's robotic arm. It starts to move on it's own because the centre of the ball is a wheel built into the sphere to allow itself to not only roll but move on It's own. The tiny electric motor inside move the ball along the dark corridor silently, no one sees it as the camera reveals the inside of the safe, the ball rolls inside without anyone spotting it. Sticking to the edges and shadows is the trick Bentley has learnt from Sly. The screen reveals the two beds with straps cut and a lot of broken glass.

"This must be where they held Sly." Bentley proposes.

"Looks like he went out with a fight." Connor answers, slightly proud of Sly, not just being a pussy and lying down.

"Who was the other bed for?" Carmelita asks, noticing the similarly structured bed with leather straps cut although with more precision than the rough cuts of the bed furthest away from the door.

"Penelope's here!" Murray exclaims, not backing up it with evidence, it's just a hunch of his that coincidentally is right.

"Just keep your voices down while I try to figure out where they are and how to get past those guards." Bentley says as he looks into the security cameras. Quickly, he spots them running through the dark corridors in the lower levels. Connor quickly interjects.

"Someone's coming." He says, pulling Bentley back and everyone else behind him. They can't hear anything, but they trust this experienced thief whose ears are more finely tuned to the sound of footsteps than anyone else. The sound comes into the normal audible range and they wait for them to be seen. Two guards stroll past them but before they can take a look, Connor is onto them, knocking them out and dispatching the large bodies by sliding them along the ground with his feet. All while not being seen. Connor relives them of anything valuable like protective gear, weapons and smoke canisters. Murray takes hold of weapons and fits himself into the protective hear with helmet an all. Connor takes up the weapons and gives the canisters to Bentley. Connor gives the other rifle to Carmelita.

"To you with love." Connor says. Every single attempt at love is only making it worse for Carmelita; instead of lashing out at him she just ignores it. Soon he will be back in his own time. They have to track back to the stairwell to get down to the lower levels. No lasers block them here, there was no use blocking them from going to a place they didn't initially need to go to. The climb down is many flights of stairs.

"When we go back up, can we use the elevator?" Murray asks, knowing that the climb is going to be arduous and tiring.

"Elevator is too risky big guy." Connor explains.

"What he said." Carmelita explains.

"When we finish the climb back up, I'll have lost like 50 pounds or something." Murray figures. "I'll need a few pizzas to get back up to correct weight."

"How are you doing up there Joey." Bentley checks on his radio. The reception is patchy in this concrete column.

"I'm just about to…" He tries to say before the distortion makes his speech inaudible.

"Joey?" Bentley asks worriedly. He can't get a reception as they plunge deeper into the depths of the earth. They can't stop moving, being stationary is a no-no.


	43. Chapter 42 - Dark Rooms

They reach the bottom of the stairwell and enter a massive room with the fan whirring up the top. Bentley tests the suction capacity by releasing one of the smoke canisters and watches the smoke rise up quickly into the roof. An impressive system to keep the banks of all of Interpol's supercomputers cool. Bentley is intrigued by this but not while Sly is out of his sight. Bentley now sees him in the evidence locker, cracking various safes open while Penelope watches from behind. He thinks that Sly is still under whatever spell that Penelope has done over him, controlling him to do her bidding. But he relates his schematics that tell him the correct path they must take. Carmelita looks at this room that she has never been in, despite working for years for Interpol. She was never good with analysis and writing reports. They see the apparent lack of any sort of activity down here. Shouldn't there be people manning these desks and keyboards being typed on? Not here but they see no evidence of foul play although Bentley does have a hunch that Penelope may have had something to do with it. Sly isn't that senselessly violent he thinks to himself.

Joey meanwhile has been waiting for Bentley to report back in, he can hear the crackling of the reception but nothing else. He is trapped in a cupboard inside the Directors office. All that sneaking past the various advisors was a tricky job but he made it past and into this safe hiding place. To his right is the director's desk with the director and various advisors crowded around the computer screen in an attempt to find Bentley and the gang, proceeding lower and lower into the bowels of the building. Joey's hands feel for the edges and for anything of value or use to him. He feels a hook on the side of the draw but feels it is not firmly connected to the side like it should be. He yanks it down and the back of the wardrobe slides out of place. Joey all most falls over but a perfectly executed backflip solves that problem. The room this has lead to is dark and unseen. To him, it another world that he has stepped inside of. Surely he doesn't have some magic portal to another time or dimension in his office.

"Light switch." Joey mutters to get his focus back. He walks slowly to feel that the wardrobe is still there, to his relief it still is. It has now gone from the fantasy to the reality, a secret room hidden in a wardrobe. His gloved hands feel for any part that juts out from the wall, indicating a light switch. His progress is impeded by a table of some description that bumps against his waist. He stops and feels around that, a smooth wooden bench top with rounded edges and metal legs with nothing on top. He walks along this table to feel for anything but the table is clean as if it was made yesterday. He strafes along the table until he hits the wall only a couple of metres away. He finds what he is looking for, a switch. He flicks it and no lights come on, only a computerised voice.

"Password" A woman's computerised voice asks indifferently.

"Password?" Joey replies back, slightly caught off guard by this security measure.

"Access granted." She replies back, the lights turn on and several things come out from the table tops, plans and different types of objects, ranging form the crudely made to the exquisitely machined. The white light illuminates this small room to reveal it's true contents. The most dominant feature is a giant corkboard at the opposite side of the room; it has handwritten post-it notes with tacks inserted into them with string connecting each one. There are lots of pieces of interconnecting string criss crossing across the board but they all lead to a blue calling card in the centre. Joey goes up further to examine these findings, he can't make out all of these notes that have been scrawled onto pieces of paper so he decides to take picture on his phone. He takes pictures of each part so that Bentley can read it when he stitches the photos together. It takes 16 photos to completely cover the board in sufficient detail. He quickly takes photos of every other aspect of the room, he needs to get out of there before he get's spotted or he is sitting duck trapped in the corner like this. The only other options are a vent at the top that leads directly to the roof or this tile that he moves to reveal a ladder made from steel bars set into the concrete shaft, It goes a long way down but chooses to go down as that's where he can meet with them down below. Joey slides the tile open and places his legs against the steel bars.

"Light's off." He says, hoping that this voice activation works as well at it did before. It doesn't turn them off.

"Piece of crap." He says exasperatingly but quietly. The lights turn off. Funny how things work out sometimes. He replaces the tile and works his way downwards.

Down below, the gang tries to find their way along the corridors. Bentley uses his computer to guide them through the mass of tunnels that wind through the ground.

"Murray, can you go down there? We can cut them off over there." Bentley explains.

"Sure thing buddy." Murray says as he makes his way alone down the corridor to Bentley's right.

"Carmelita you take the left passage." Bentley says

"On it." She says as she takes out her pistol and sneaks along the corridor, trying to catch them out.

"Connor, you stay here and protect the passage if anyone comes after us, take these you'll need some." Bentley says as he hands over some smoke canisters and bombs to add to his arsenal.

"Gee, thanks." he says sarcastically as he cocks the gun and takes position behind the cover. Bentley continues on forward down the passageway. He wheels his way quietly closer and draws his dart gun, ready to capture Penelope and return her to Amsterdam. Then he will need to beef up the safe, a pressure sensitive nuke should do nicely. A nice bit of misdirection on Bentley's part has set up the encounter that he needs. A lone encounter, the only way he can deal with this. He can hear the echoes down the corridor of the two voices in the room.

"It's got to be here somewhere, help me out quickly." The voice of Sly echoes faintly down the corridor. Bentley waits around the corner for them to exit.

"Let's get out of here." Sly says louder from Bentley's perspective.

"Already ahead of you." Penelope says. Even louder than Sly, indicating she is closer. The calculation is done in a split second. Penelope is closer, Sly is further away. The time is now to strike. He flicks a bomb around the corner blindly without looking. He waits for the beeping to end and the explosion to burst the silence. The explosion echoes through the hallways and into the sideways corridors that Carmelita and Murray walk through aimlessly, still having not found this evidence lock that Bentley said would be there. They rush back as quickly as possible to the intersection and see Connor taking cover behind the opposite wall, expecting guards to come at the sound of this bomb.

"That turtle is too clever for his own good." Connor comments.

"Bentley _is_ smart." Murray blurts out.

"He's tricked us." Carmelita says.

But inside the room, Penelope is none too happy with these passing events.

"Bentley!" She shouts down the corridor, knowing the signature beeping of the bombs. She stands back up, unharmed by the bomb but her underpants are showing. She puts back on the orange prison jumpsuit and only does it up to the waist, letting the top part to hang around her waist. As she does this Bentley rolls his way in. Sly know what he has done but he doesn't want to let it happen.

"Bentley calm down." Sly says, getting in between them.

"It's nice to see you too Sly." Bentley replies back, not concentrating on him however but looking at Penelope around Sly's slim body.

"Just stop it now before you take this too far." Sly warns.

"You don't know the feeling Sly, the feeling of betrayal." Bentley says.

"One word, Neyla." Sly replies back. Not wanting to say that name again but it proves his point perfectly.

"Not like this, she stole my love and she will pay for it. So step out of the way and let me settle it for myself." Betley pleas. Penelope hears every word from behind Sly She knows she has done all of that and more. But she is now not willing to die over it. The primeval instinct to not die has kicked in.

"Bentley, I've known you for a long time. Just please don't do this, do it for me, please." Sly begs. Bentley doesn't forget those dark times for him. Bentley is torn between them. The trust and friendship of Sly or the pursuit of revenge. He wants both.

"This needs to be settled now Sly or it's going to be bigger than all of us." Bentley warns.

"What do you think it is now? What do you think it has become? If you lock someone up in a vault then drive 900 kilometres to hunt them down again, do you think that it still is not already big enough? Let's just stop this now and you can figure this out later when we are not trapped in the underground room of Interpol." Sly argues.

There is a pause for thought as the other three of the gang enter silently behind them into the room to listen in on the conversation.

"Yeah, let's get out of here Bentley." Penelope says forcefully. As she tries to move around Sly to get out of view. Bentley pulls the trigger on his dart gun, his hand not moving but his finger does. Sly reacts with speed unmatched by any to grab the dart out of the air and hold it in his hand, the needle still pointing at Penelope, the red liquid sloshing around inside. Sly tries to squirt the liquid out but only steam is released when the plunger is pressed. Sly pushes it all out until none is left then throws the dart as far as he can away from him. He is angry with Bentley for constantly ignoring his pleas. Bentley can see it as well, he has failed his friend, his true friend.

"Okay, but just until we get out of here." Bentley agrees.

"I give it 10 seconds." Penelope says. Implying the infighting is going to start none too soon.


	44. Chapter 43 - Against the Tide

**Interpol Underground rooms, Lyon, France. 3:42pm 28****th**** July 2013**

Sly turns around to see the rest of the gang behind him including Carmelita. Sly is happy to see her finally after so long being separated. There is no time to express feelings for each other apart from a look that suggests 'I tried' from Sly. Sly allows a small smile towards Carmelita, she reciprocates. It seems that Sly has found someone who is more willing to stand by him and his words. That brings some comfort to Sly, he feels better on the inside after seeing that. It gives him some energy to keep going and that is what fuels him further. Quickly they move out of the room with Penelope and Bentley still eyeing off each other. The resentment between them grows with each passing step or in Bentley's case, each turn of the wheel. They hold up as Connor takes point and stops them before they run into the sight of some guards that are moving their way. To Sly, his dad looks like some sort of gritty action figure, with gun in hand and a tired but pissed off look on his face that is only accentuated by some overgrown facial hair and eyes that are surrounded by bags from the lack of sleeping due to being to focused on the job at hand. Sly is sort of glad he didn't turn out like that, it doesn't reflect his own style of being clean and smooth.

Expertly, Connor detonates a smoke grenade and throws it in their path, obscuring their view and causing confusion between them. They shoot blindly down the hallway but nothing emerges from the corner. The smoke clears as the huge fan some distance away draws it out, revealing their naked bodies.

"That's how it's done." Connor says as he surprises them from behind, letting spray with some bullets. The gun fires and echoes around the corridors and filters out into all directions, so does the sound of the thud that their bodies make as they hit the ground.

"Why do you even use the cane then?" Sly asks as he is the first to emerge from the corner.

"It's helpful for close quarters stuff. This type of advanced weaponry is and will be the future." Connor says, noting the gun he is holding in one hand.

"Some people don't like to have blood spilled dad." Sly remarks.

"Some people would like to escape." Carmelita notes. Sly focuses now on escaping and turns around to keep going. He passes the box over to Connor for him to get changed into and he does so in no time at all. Thaddeus had his tricks for a quick change of disguise. They still advance forward without a single sign of activity. Bentley picks up the radio chatter on his computer.

"Guys, they're all stationed at the main computer room, we'll never get out through there." Bentley says.

"Are you sure there are no other exits?" Sly asks, trying to find an error in Bentley's statement.

"I'm afraid not." Bentley replies.

"Then we make our own." Sly says. "How many bombs do you have left?"

"If you're talking about tunnelling out of there then that's impossible, concrete encases this entire place and people at the top are going to notice a big hole emerging from the ground." Bentley explains to the gang. "Our only exit out this through there." He says as he points down the corridor.

"How about I go and disrupt them a bit without them seeing?" Sly proposes. Penelope gets what he is suggesting.

"I'll go too." Penelope says.

"There's a hundred or so guards out there so be careful." Bentley warns.

"Are you showing some sort of care for me?" Penelope asks sarcastically. Bentley doesn't answer as he gazes at his computer to send his eyes away from hers. In truth, he was talking to Sly however he did think about her. Penelope turns the virtual computer off on the wheel chair.

"Just trust me on this." Penelope says directly to Bentley's face, forcing the issue to him then walking away. Bentley stares blankly and looks for his former girlfriend only to see nothing. He looks for Sly but he is gone as well.

"He's got to show me how to do that." Connor remarks, wanting to increase his arsenal of techniques to steal the unstealable and take the untakeable. Sly and Penelope sneak silently down the corridor but a flail of bullets flies their way. They retreat hastily back to the safety of the gang.

"Can you see me?" Sly asks.

"No" Murray answers.

"They can see us. We need a plan B." Sly frantically says as he hears instructions being bellowed out from far away.

"They've figured out the thermal trick." Bentley figures. "It's times like these that define us and the character that we…" Bentleys says going to deliver a speech to rouse the gang into a battle they would struggle to come out whole. But an almighty crash thunders out from the room. The sound is unbearable and they block their ears. It's like a building collapsing nearby, only with metal on metal. Some dust flies into their path and some parts fly their way, pieces of circuit boards and chunks of metal plating fill the floor as they get closer to the wreckage. The passage is blocked by a huge metal cabinet. Murray pushes it out of the way and reveals the mass of metal and dead bodies that have been devastated in this area. They look above, the fan that was there is not anymore. The white light that was emanating form the top before now streaks down in unrestricted glory. Shining brightly on the floor of bodies and bytes. No live sound is made save for the crunching of metal and silicon under the feet of Sly who enters the room first. He looks up at the light then at the room itself. He feels the sense of awe and grandness of such destruction. He seeks such beauty in things like this, not focusing on the death but on what can be salvaged. He spots the giant nose cone sitting on it's side, the black paint scratched from it's impact ruins it's physically perfect shape. None of the computers that he saw earlier are in usable condition, a fact that is echoed by Bentley. He searches the wreckage for any useful parts. He is not immune from the temptation to take. The turtle uses his robotic arms to rummage through the piles but nothing he finds is in one piece. He also feels some sorrow for such computers, they are the things that he loves and he can't not feel sorry for them. Murray on the other hand is just happy from all the destruction that he has seen. He wishes he could create such havoc with his fists but he does not posses the force of a giant fan tumbling 3 stories to the ground.

A voice from above breaks their thoughts. It echoes down the cone shaped top.

"Hey guys." Joey shouts from the top, reaching out into the abyss. The gang looks up to stop him, Carmelita points him out and they all find his location.

"Before you say anything, that was all me. I'll tell you what happened once we leave here but first. Uhhh, Murray, that's right. I'm jumping down and you're catching me." Joey instructs. Just as he is about to leap into Murray's arms, Sly rushes to stop him, having an idea.

"Stay there." He shouts up to Joey. He stays at his post as Sly looks around for what he needs. He spots a wire that once held up banks of monitors. The steel cable is frayed at one end but it long enough to reach up.

"Murray, give me a hand with this." Sly instructs as he passes the cable to Murray. One by one the others see what Sly has figured out.

"Murray's going to throw the cable up and you find some place to tie it to okay?" Sly shouts as he watches Murray swing the cable, winding up for the throw. The cable soars into the air and Joey stick out an arm and grasps the cable. The weight of it is making it hard for him to hold onto it but he manages to loop it around a steel bar that was exposed due to the collapse of the fan. He ties it up and lets it go with his hands ready to catch it if it doesn't hold. Sly gives it a yank and he starts to climb up, cane in mouth to the top. Closely followed by Connor then Penelope. Carmelita takes longer but she makes it up without any major hiccups. The question is how to get Murray and Bentley up there. The wheel chair can't fly high enough to lift Bentley to the top. Murray already has an idea and it involves a good old-fashioned workout. He grabs the fans huge blades and moves them into a pile of some sorts, further towering up towards the right height. Meanwhile, the advance party of Joey and Penelope are first into the service walkways. Pipes and cables hang from the side from metal hooks set into the concrete tunnel.

"These walkways lead right into the vent system that we can use to escape." Joey explains as he run ahead. Penelope thinks how Bentley couldn't even know that these existed. His potential is being wasted by the second, but this is a more recent occurrence. He is making errors that any other member of the gang, with the exception of Murray, couldn't have made. Bentley is a smart, a very smart guy and she knows that, but errors like that are uncharacteristic of his usually know-it-all style. Is Bentley just not emotionally intelligent enough? He can't handle himself when complex and difficult situations involving living people present themselves. Not in the straight and predictable world of computers but in the unpredictable world outside of this is not where he belongs. She has a brainwave, a concrete piece of evidence to suggest that Bentley was becoming worse in terms of intelligence. She has heard stories from Bentley about how the gang met up and seen pictures of them together, usually after they were getting close together after the days work was done. She has this picture of how Bentley was, a timid and shy creature that was uncomfortable being more than a few metres away from a computer. A turtle that didn't really know what he could do. Only now she manages to connect the dots. It was his increased exposure to the outside world that slowed his progress from it's natural curve. She wonders what she could have become if she did what he claims. But it doesn't work that way. She handles herself her emotions too well, at time better than Sly, to be drastically affected by the situation round her. In short, she thinks, Bentley has a high IQ and a low EQ. A dangerous combination to have when the latter is exploited.

Back in the main room; Connor, Carmelita and Sly watch on as the last piece is moved into place. A crude pile of destroyed computers and fan blades is turned into a stairway to heaven, a way to the exit has been created. Bentley and Murray both jump up this unstable pile of junk to the top. The gang waiting for them at the top make space to the bulk of Murray and the size of the wheel chair to land on the top. The rest of the gang starts to run inside the walkway, hoping for an exit out of the building that doesn't involve a prison van to The Hague. Joey and Penelope have made their way along the dead straight tunnel until they reach the end of the line, sucking in the deep breaths after such run. They look back to see the gang making their way along as well with Carmelita running at the front. They find a room at the end that contains what is quite possibly the best thing they could have hoped for. A boat moored to this underground dock is an escape route from the building. Not on the plans for some reason. Penelope jumps in the boat while Joey opens up the garage door on the room to allow the boat to get out. She starts the engine as black smoke is released from the exhaust pipes. The sunlight can be seen from the left as that direction points towards freedom. The rest of the gang rush in and pile in the boat. Penelope thrusts the throttle slowly at first to clear the first turn the goes full power to leave the tunnel at speed. This boat has some power on it. They are forced back and almost fall over but steady themselves on the sides. They are travelling at speed as the boat enters the sunlight and faces the trap. Helicopters are hovering above the exit and boats are waiting for their escape.

Penelope turns left out of the turn back to the direction of the Interpol building. They pursuing forces know that they must be captured alive and not dead. A dead Sly Cooper is no use for the Director.

"Hold on Everyone." Penelope warns as she goes al the way to the other side of the river then makes a huge left turn heading straight for the bank of the river. She doesn't brake or hesitate to plough straight on. Her creative plan is going to work she thinks as she aims for the gap in the trees along the bank of the river.

"Murray got your keys?" Penelope asks they are about to do the quintessential action movie stunt that Venice did not provide the gang. The boat enters dry land and catapults up the sloped bank of the river and scrapes the bottom along the road. Sparks fly off the fibreglass body.

"To the airport." Penelope says. "As fast as possible."


	45. Chapter 44 - Fly Away With Me

The boat slows to a stop in the Interpol driveway. The watching parties do not know how to react to such a bizarre attempt at escape. The gang leaps out of the boat as fast as possible. Joey returns to his beloved TT1000 and in the passenger seat goes Penelope, wanting to not be in the same vehicle as Bentley as that could cause some issues. The rest of them cram into the van. Murray takes the helm as Joey quickly reverses out of the driveway and J turns onto the main road, putting the gear into drive and flooring it as hard as possible to accelerate away from the crowds. Penelope doesn't want to try the stealthy approach again, not with everyone watch and because of the previous results. Murray also drives the van out of the slipway and race towards the airport, taking the same route as Sly did previously.

"Dad, this is it. We're finally going to get you out." Sly says, relieved that they are heading in the right direction.

"I never doubted you." He replies back. It touches Sly, he feels now that he has earned the full respect and praise of his father.

"GPS lock is on." Bentley notes as he opens up a window that shows the position of Joey and Penelope in the hypercar via the walkie-talkie. Yes, he did put a GPS transmitter in it; he doesn't like his things to go missing.

"We need a more direct approach to this Bentley, can you hack into the police helicopters and 'dispose' of them." Sly asks.

"It'll be dangerous but I can do it." Bentley says, unsure of where Sly got the destructive streak in him. Such comments would be reserved for Murray. But Bentley gets to work in the passenger seat on his computer. First he gets into the transmitter of the helicopter flying over the river and inputs some malicious code to make the engine cut out. They can see the helicopter plunge into the river and the occupants jumping into the cold waters. Murray glances to the side to look at the carnage then turns back to focus on the driving. They weave through the late afternoon traffic at high speed. This gets the attention of the police who just resort to the usual futile attempts of roadblocks and spike strips. Carmelita knows this too well; they don't have any other powers that they can assert on high-speed chases due to outcries form the number of car crashes resulting from high-speed pursuits like the one happening right now. Only these are top getaway drivers. Two of the best on the planet racing against the police to the airport and the plane where they can escape Interpol and bring Connor back to his own time.

Penelope picks up the walkie-talkie that was left in the car from the previous pursuit and shows it to Joey.

"That's what we used to talk to Bentley in the van." Joey says as he speeds down the motorway. Penelope looks at it and puts it back where she found it.

"Whatever that's between you two must be pretty big if you're just going to do that." Joey notes, not even taking his eyes off the road as he sees it in his peripheral vision. Of course, he doesn't know the back-story of their relationship. He is the perfect person to talk to about this, being the most objective out of all of the gang considering that he has been with them for only a few days. All this while weaving through traffic at more than 150km/h.

"If you don't say anything then what's inside is going to boil and when it boils it goes over the top and dangerous things can happen as a consequence." Joey says, Penelope can only relate too well with that statement. "Like there was this one time, back when I was a kid running the streets I met this guy who absolutely hated by guts out because I was faster and superior in everyway. He wasn't showing that much but I could tell just at the way he looked at me whenever I was there waiting at the destination before him. As far as I know, that guy never talked about it to anyone else, he just gave this look of passive anger and hatred at me that I laughed off. The cruel lesson here is that when that is not released in a controlled way. Knives can come too close to your throat while you are sleeping and you have to fight of that crazy guy off your bed until he stops moving. That's what happened but my point is you have to find an outlet and let it out and if you and him haven't done that already then Bentley is going to give you the worst time possible as he takes it out on you, slowly twisting screws into your hands and stretching your back until the joints separate in agony."

What he says makes a lot of sense in some way, in both ways in fact. She now has no hate for Bentley having found an outlet in the form of two failed plots to dismantle the gang. Bentley will have to find a way to let out his anger somehow, hopefully not in the way that he displayed earlier in the evidence room.

"Thanks, I don't know what to say." Penelope says, taking the advice and thanking him for suggesting it. She is unsure about how she wants to follow this up with.

"A bit of an oxymoron don't you think?" Joey replies. He has got her stumped this time and she knows it. She doesn't replies and looks back at the walkie-talkie, picking it up, she hovers her index finger over the call button. She waits, daring herself to try, daring herself to take the risk. In this regard, she has nothing to loose. A crackle is heard as the button is pressed down.

"Bentley." Penelope says.

"Penelope." Bentley replies back, surprised as if he had the same intention.

"Look, i…"Penelope says as she pauses to fill the gap with words.

"Want to apologise? Me too." Bentley replies. His tone is more forgiving this time like a mirrored perfection of Penelope's conveyed tone. There is pause as their simultaneous action takes the words out of their mouth. Each struggling to start.

"I'm sorry." They both say at the same time. All the onlookers in the cars watch as this conversation awkwardly pan out. It may be awkward but they would not rather have it anyway. It is better this way than face to face. Doing it that way is not their style, for both of them. Having this microphone and speaker covering their face and hiding themselves from each other and only letting the sound of their voice communicate to each other is what they prefer. To these two individuals, the outside world is not there right now. It is clouded out of their mind. No helicopters, police cars or spike strips take them out of this very important and unstable moment.

"You go first." Bentley says.

"Okay, This will never ever do justice for what I have done, nothing I do will. You've already heard the tapes from the recording I did. I can't add much else to that other than I won't do that again. As long as we are alive I promise." Penelope says. She admits what she has done again, she can't be more emotional than the apologetic tone she has sent through the airwaves to the van. She had done all of the crying and bawling in private in the plane, the one they are driving as fast as possible to reach.

"I think that we can agree that the past is over." Bentley says. "That is if you don't have a time machine." He jokes. Penelope lets a small chuckle. The chemistry is coming back between them, albeit slowly but they can tell it is building from the pile of ashes many times burnt.

"But using time to solve your problems is fraught with dangers in itself and I wouldn't want to change it." Bentley explains. Joey is slightly shocked that he would say this after all of the hate and spite he showed earlier.

"Shhh, don't say anything else Penelope." Bentley hushly says into the speaker, like he is speaking to a sleeping baby. "We can sort this out later. But for now, why not hear the sound of my voice, my low and slow deep voice." Bentley says like he is being obsessed with his own voice. Penelope is weirded out by this premature advance, even some sort of advance at all. It is all happening too fast for her, they haven't even escaped the clutches of the police and Interpol yet. All she can feel is the g-force moving her side to side as Joey moves around all the slow moving traffic, heading towards the airport. Joey is in the zone, not moving his head or his gaze from the task at hand.

"Once we finish this, I'm all yours." Bentley says to Penelope. Sure she wanted him to not like her but she didn't want it to be like this. It is going to fast for her, relationships built on such rocky foundations need to be carefully repaired.

In the van however, the plan has gone off without a hitch. Sly took a risk there but it paid off. Sitting at the back of the van out of reach from Bentley's long robotic arms. The thin sheet of tape on his neck showing the copper wiring allows him to impersonate Bentley much to Bentley's early discontent. But as Sly goes on to talk, Bentley feels the helplessness build up, knowing that this is what must happen if there is any chance of them trying to get back together. Bentley reaches out a robotic arm with palm open to receive the walkie-talkie from Sly who has had his fun/serious relationship building. Sly puts it back in, only hoping good things can come from this. Bentley slowly puts his ear to the speaker.

"It's me now, Penelope." Bentley says.

"But you were just talking before." Penelope argues.

"I'll explain that later but we really need to settle this now before it gets out of hand." Bentley offers.

"It's not out of control enough for you?" Penelope asks.

"I've had worse." Bentley casually says. "The point is that those 8 years we had together were some of the best of my life, and I want to have more years like that. I want to share them… with you." Bentley says as he goes to tears. It is the first time that Sly has seen him cry, even when he found that Penelope had betrayed him. Sly's feeling of happiness for him turns to complete empathy as he recounts his own events. If empathy is his weakness, it's not a bad one to have.

"Bentley, it's all going too fast at the moment right now, I'm sure we will be together someday but once we get everything sorted out, you know." Penelope says, not wanting to offend Bentley pouring out his heart and soul through the air.

"I put my heart on a platter and you chose to put it in the refrigerator?" Bentley asks, feeling deflated that his big gamble has not paid off as he would have liked.

"No… no, I'm not saying that at all." Penelope replies. "We just need some space, time will take care of the rest."

"So… we're good?" Bentley asks the final question. There is no need for hesitation from Penelope's side.

"Yeah." She replies but this slow moment is broken by the fast progress of their journey.

"Hate to ruin your moment but we're almost at the airport." Joey says.

"I'll see you once we are in the air." Penelope says.

"Okay." Bentley replies. Penelope puts the walkie talkie back in the same spot she found it and looks at the fast approaching terminal that shines in the afternoon sun.

"It's in those hangars over there." Penelope says as she points to the right through the window. She takes a look back and tries to spot the van; they are further behind, becoming almost a speck in the distance. As Joey goes over the bridge to get into the airport complex, he says a multitude of police and army vehicle waiting for them with guns drawn. Joey stops and reverses back across the bridge as bullet come flying past them.

"Head down now." Joey shouts and Penelope follows as the glass shatters from the bullets. Holes start to appear in the bodywork of the car. The engine in the back means that they can't shoot at it right now. As joey does the j turn to speed away and find another exit onto the airport, the van arrives at the roundabout and goes in the other direction having heard the gunfire from before. Joey follows on with pieces of bodywork hanging from the car.

"They'll pay for ruining it." He mutters as he sees the van break open the lowered down boomgate of its hinge with one push of a certain red button. They race along the tarmac and head towards the hangar, hoping that they haven't moved it since they were gone. Sly is worried that if they don't escape in time they could be in for some serious trouble. It is only a worry; he believes in himself, he believes in his gang no matter how long they have been with him. Whether they have been with him since the start or less than a day in Connors case, they will pull through this one and Sly will make sure that they do. In the hypercar as it come to a stop, Penelope isn't worried about the theft of the plane at all.

"What are you looking so smug about?" Joey says as he races out of the car to open the doors to the hangar.

"They don't have the key." Penelope states.

"You need a key to run one of these things? I thought you just walk in a turn it on." Joey asks.

"If it was any other plane you'd be right, not this one though." Penelope explains as the gang arrive with the van. They pile out as fast as possible. Penelope, already in the hangar runs to the door where it opens automatically for her. Joey takes note and runs inside as well. The rest of the gang follow suit except for Murray who needs to perform the one part of this mission that only he could do. He drives the van into the hangar and turns to face the front wheel of the plane. Penelope gives a thumb up, she knows what they are doing despite not hearing this plan. Murray guns it, flooring it as hard as possible to push the plane backwards. It moves but very slowly, the acceleration is very slow as well. The vans wheels are not squealing and howling as they spin but aren't straining at all. All because of a special 'max torque' gear on the van that allows it to increase the torque that it sends to the wheels meaning it can move heavy objects. The tail fin is visible from the outside now and slowly the rest of the plane comes into full view. Police cars surround the plane as it is moving out and shoot at its wheels to try to burst them open, again to no avail.

Once the plane is far back enough, Penelope turns the front wheel to the right, meaning the plane turns left as it reverses out. She turns on the propellers, ready to make a quick exit. Once the force from the van is felt to not be there, she turns up the power and lowers the tailgate to allow Murray to enter. Some police jump out of their cars and try to be the hero and jump aboard the plane but their running speed is not fast enough. The plane just move away from them and the gap it creates allows Murray to sneak inside. From a camera in the cockpit, Penelope sees this and shuts the tailgate just before they make the slight right turn to go to the longest runway at the airport. Murray just pauses in front of them until the sunlight is blocked out by the slowly rising tailgate.

"This is it." Penelope says, ready to take off. She grasps the thrusters but another hand grabs it as well. She looks to her right side, Bentley sitting in the co-pilots seat is unknown to her. They let out a wry smile between each other, as Penelope does a no look turn onto the runway. Once the plane is lined up they know what to do. They push the stick as far forward as possible, together. The gang can see this being the start of something, not new, but different. They can only concentrate on the speed of the plane and the helicopters that fly nearby to watch them go past the window. They feel like they are free, at last from this saga. It has taken them around Europe and some other parts of the world. As the plane tilts back to move into the air. Sly looks at Carmelita, she looks back. They embrace, an only too inevitable occurrence that was going to happen sooner or later. Connor just feels happy for his future son, he knows it will be time for him to depart. Murray arrives from the back of the plane to watch these four individuals become two couples. Murray just looks at Joey and thinks about joining in on the action. He picks up joey from the ground and gives him a huge hug that squeezes all the air out of him.

"Put me down, please." Joey tries to say against the strength of Murray. Murray obliges and follows the instruction as the plane moves further from the ground and further into the air. The plane rises and rises until they level off just above the clouds. It is now the time to say goodbye.

"I guess this is it dad. Time for you to go now." Sly says reluctantly.

"Don't worry about me okay, I'll survive anyway because you are existing right now, meaning I live at least until I have you." Connor says, not concerned with leaving, he has it all worked out. He watches as he walks to the back of the plane, just as he remembered being dragged through time at this spot. Penelope puts it in autopilot

"Someone can jump in if they like." Penelope offers.

"Me, me, me, please." Murray squeals as he jumps into the pilots seat and puts the headphones on and watches the clouds rush past the plane. Sly walks down to the back of the plane to say his final goodbyes. Penelope presses some buttons and the time machine whirrs up and the portal created back to 1981 appears.

"Goodbye my future son." Connor says.

"Goodbye dad." Sly says as the blue raccoon walks into the portal never to be seen again. All those half torn pictures that obscure the true face of Connor can now be filled in. Sly just waves as he walks into the portal and when the portal collapses and disappears, Sly can only feel like his father has been taken away for the second time, only this time it is on his terms and now he can focus on what the future holds.

Sly and Penelope return to the cockpit to sort out the next phase of their plan with the gang.

"So, what next?" Sly asks.


	46. Chapter 45 - The Thief's Speech

**Bentley's Lab, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. 5:58pm 1****st**** August 2013.**

"Are you sure that this will work Bentley? I'm sure this is what the Director wanted me to do in the first place." Sly asks as he stands in front of a green screen with the gang watching from behind a camera.

"I don't think that the people want to have a 'murderer' on the loose. Besides, they'll only come after you harder and harder, each time getting closer and closer and I don't want you to take that risk. Especially with what you have to loose." Bentley replies while looking at Carmelita.

"You told them?" Sly asks.

"Sure, everyone was going to find out eventually. You're good at hiding things from me but not everything can be hidden forever." She explains. Sly takes a deep breath as he tries to comprehend what he is about to do, go against everything that he knows about being a thief, about being stealthy and sneaky. This is the opposite of all those things.

"I'm not sure I can do this." Sly argues.

"Think of the future." Bentley counters and Carmelita echoes that sentiment with a look that says you must do this but not forcefully. Sly takes a deep breath and returns to the camera. Bentley flicks on the teleprompter below with the first words shown, ready for Sly to speak. Carmelita comes up quickly and gives him a short kiss that Sly receives. It's just what he needs.

"1 minute everyone." Bentley shouts as the rest of the gang are gathered on the couches that they have moved from the TV area to this empty room that is a makeshift studio. Sly looks at his feet and checks himself. He stares into the lens of the camera, not knowing who might be on the other end exactly. He checks his blue-gloved hands to see if they are there as well. He is not fading away so the time machine worked precisely as it should. He settles himself and concentrates on the large white square font on the teleprompter.

"30 seconds." Bentley yells as he prepares his part of the job. He has the world's communications satellites at his whim, ready to transmit the message around the world. Sly thinks about the magnitude of what he is doing here. Revealing him to the world and showing who he is not what he would have wanted, but it's the only way to get this Director off his back once and for all. For the sake of his child.

"10 seconds." Bentley shouts.

**Meanwhile on every TV channel in the world**

The screen has gone dark, the normal programming has stopped suddenly. Everything from the daily news to late light infomercials has stopped. A large bright circle appears with the countdown clock. 5, 4, 3, 2. The screen turns black and the beeps subside. Screen fades in to reveal that thief from the news and the broadcasts that they have heard about. He is standing in the Louvre museum, right in front of the world most famous painting for all the same reasons as Sly is; it was stolen by a thief. No one else is in the room despite it being 6pm in France right now. The Mona Lisa ripe for the taking.

"Good evening, morning or night to everyone depending on the region you are watching this message. If you are hearing it now, don't be alarmed. For I am safe in here with some fine artwork surrounding me." Sly begins as confidently as he can fake to the world.

At Interpol, the Director is stunned as he is sitting at his office with the TV mounted in the corner up at full volume to hear what he has to say.

"Get me museum security!" He shouts into the phone, angered by such a show of arrogance towards him.

"I'm only here to do one thing. Prove to you and to the world that these are nothing but lies that have been perpetrated by the law enforcement agency Interpol." Sly continues.

"Shut him down!" The Director shouts into the phone.

"You see, I'm not just a thief. I'm a master thief which means I only steal from other criminals, just like your chief of Interpol." Sly continues, confidence building.

Police in Paris are rushing to the glass pyramid that marks the entrance to the Louvre. Cars screech to a halt on the cobblestone path outside and teams of armed policemen and women rush towards the entrance but the staff are closing it for the day.

"Open it up!" They shout, banging on the glass to get inside. The staff member fumbles with the keys to unlock the glass sliding door and drops it. They have no patience for this so they shoot open the door, causing the glass to tamper and shatter onto the ground all over the staff member whose arm is now bleeding from the sharp edges of the glass. The police don't pay any attention to her and just move down the stairs to the lobby in single file.

"This man is not a law enforcement master, he is a corrupt official who has deceived you all. And I have the evidence to prove it." Sly continues.

The director is already getting contingency plans into operation. He locks the door to his office and shuts the blinds. Having shielded himself from the outside, he turns to the inside.

"You see, being a master criminal, I get a lot of envy and jealously about my position. Your director was directly facilitating it. Pictures, which should be on the screen show the full extent of his secret network of underground connections, each one linked to me in the centre." Sly continues.

The police run up the stairs to the Leonardo di Vinci section, running as fast as they can past all of the staff who are cleaning up the floor from another day of visitors.

The Director scans the wardrobe for any sign of a break-in, nothing. He enters through the hole and into the room and checks for anything missing.

"Pass…?" The computer speaks.

"I know the goddamn password okay!" He shouts.

"Access granted." She says and turns the lights on.

He fumbles around all of the drawers and the tabletops, checking for any missing items.

"If you're so hell bent on chasing after criminals, forget about me and go after the real thief in this world, the one who has taken your money." Sly continues, really getting the tone perfect.

The corkboard that is hanging on the wall is taken down and smashed into several little pieces until they are unrecognisable and throws them down the hole in the bottom of this secret room.

"Police, open up!" They shout at the door leading into the Mona Lisa exhibit.

"10 million, 20 million, perhaps 50 million. Nope, 1 billion dollars has been spent to try and capture me, not to mention the extra hundreds of millions of bounty he would receive from criminal organisations the world over." Sly says, taking the moral high ground.

The Director works as methodically as possible even though his palms become sweaty from the nervousness, removing everything that could be used as evidence and throwing it in the hole. The room becomes devoid of everything that can be thrown down a hole.

"Okay guys, bust it open." The commander shouts as the biggest guy on the team comes to bust the door down, the door does not budge at all. The door is secure; it's protecting the Mona Lisa so it has to be secure. He returns with a broken collarbone.

"I wonder how you feel, knowing that the people you entrust to keep you safe are just making themselves safer." Sly continues.

The director makes his way down the ladder.

The police rush to find someone with the access key to enter the room.

"I'd like to know as well." Sly continues.

All of the items he threw down there are piled up at the bottom of the ladder. The director kicks some of the pile down the tunnel to make space for himself.

A policewoman snatches the keys off one of the staff that are leaving from work and races back to the door as fast as she can.

"But what are they feeling right now?" Sly says, giving the cue for Bentley to step into phase 3.

The director reaches into a fuse box and gets a lighter and kerosene that he planted earlier for such a plan.

The key card is swiped and the door opens, the police rush inside with guns drawn.

And everyone has seen it all.

"As you can see, on the left is your Director of Interpol, on the right is the police. I'll let you decide what to make of this." Sly says.

A set of red lights are seen at intervals along the tunnel, the lights of many security cameras pointing right at the Director. He is stunned and tries to destroy them all, when one goes, Bentley switches to another one.

The police fan out to look around but only see a tripod with a camera attached to it with the light on for record. It has a note attached to it. They stop and look at it while they destroy the camera.

Two screens behind the camera allow Sly to see what is going on.

"I don't think burning evidence is strictly illegal, but I'll need to check on that." Sly comments sarcastically.

The items go up in flames, the kerosene burns fast and bright as the director decides to make a run for it to the escape exit.

The note says. "Lat. 45.784 Long. 4.850 don't miss out." Someone quickly bashes this into a phone and finds the location of this GPS coordinate.

"I've done a lot of things over my career." Sly starts, getting into the part he is having the most doubts about.

The Director runs and runs until he reaches the room, there is no boat. Someone has stolen the boat! Instantly he blames Sly but there is no turning back, he jumps into the freezing waters and swims down the long channel in an undignified escape attempt.

The police are on their phones trying to send this message across.

"Police, how may I help?"

"It's Paris, has anyone been sent to the shore of Le Rhone, near the Interpol building?"

"We have 4 squad cars there now." She replies. The police in the room are dumbstruck at the way this has been planned out. They look around to see if there are any more tricks in store for them.

"Been to places that no one has ever been." Sly continues.

The director swims as fast as he can to get across the river but as he gets out of the tunnel, teams of guards turn on their flashlights and watch from the shore.

"You're under arrest!" One shouts.

"You can't do this, I'll fire you." He shouts as he tries to swim further out where they can't catch him. But someone throws a floatation ring on a rope out just in front of him to offer some safety. But he rejects this and keeps going out into the river.

The police fan out along the room to look around for anything unfamiliar. They look around all of the paintings and around all of the corners; nothing looks unfamiliar apart from the camera that lies on the ground in many pieces.

"Seen things that one no one has ever seen." Sly continues.

The Director makes it almost to the other side of the river but the police just stand there ready to capture him. Frantically, he tries to swim away from them but the police just walk alongside the river, preventing any escape.

The police are satisfied that nothing else has been taken or put there and walk out of the room, ready to return to their posts.

"Done things that no one has ever done." Sly says.

The Director is tiring fast, his shoulders sag and his arms look like they have nothing left inside them. A helicopter arrives from Interpol bearing a winch to lift him out of the river.

The police walk slowly, admiring all of these paintings gone by the great masters of their time. The giant ceiling allows for truly huge behemoths to fit in here. But it's not one of the larger paintings that catch their eye. A small one just looks off. They lift it off its hangar and a card falls out from behind.

"But now, for me, the time has come to finish all of that." Sly says, almost with tears.

The winch comes down to the river with a special agent going to hook up the Director and attach him to the helicopter. The winch lifts the director slowly out of the water and places him in the centre of all of the police waiting on the side of the bank of the river.

The blue calling card, the infamous blue calling card. They look at the painting, it looks perfect, no evidence of being forged at all until they look at the signature on the back of the canvas.

"This is hard for me to say, but it's the right time." Sly continues.

The police surround him and the Director thinks that he can break through this barricade of policemen and women. But he knows better then that, he gets into the car unassisted and so do the other police men and women, ready to drive back to the police station.

A second card drops down from the back of another painting. And another, and another. They look at every small painting and find the same occurrence. Another card, another replica painting.

"I now have other things to do that are more important." Sly says.

The police car drives along the river to take him not to Interpol but to the local police station where he will not have any power. The cars move quietly in single file along the road. Fading into obscurity just like the Director will in prison. Does he enjoy rap?

They are already running out of the building, trying to alert their colleagues about one of the biggest art thefts in history. But they have forgotten one of the paintings, the one that sits inside its bulletproof glass frame in a humidity controlled chamber with special lighting to protect its paint. It looks the same, but it was made by another dead painter, just like the others.

D. Lousteau.

"So that's it from me, goodbye." Sly says.

The screen of the world fades to black and then jumps back to normal programming as if it was a temporary glitch. Some people wonder what has happened and what this means, but whatever comes on the TV now engulfs them. On the Internet, social media has erupted in a frenzy, breaking the world record for most tweets per minute and most Facebook statuses per minute as well. Most people are calling for the Directors immediate sacking. The punishment? Death, life in jail and manual labour are some of the suggestions that people have. People try to find Sly Cooper's twitter account, despite him not owning one, in order to express their gratitude and support. It's such a paradox of modern life. Wanting the law overthrown and praising criminals in the same sentence. There is no contradiction in this. One is a corrupt official who embezzled billions for his own pursuits. The other, is not a thief.

But a master thief.

A raccoon.

A Cooper.

A friend.

An enemy.

A soft touch.

A brutal strike.

A compassionate being.

A cold hearted bastard.

A silent sneaker.

A proud defeater.

But now

He will be…

A father.


	47. Epilogue - Domestic Directions

_**From First Day – Walden.**_

_On the first day,_

_When we fell in love_

_It all changed._

_We were living life in the fast lane,_

_Showing all the world_

_It's the rest of our lives; it's the rest of our lives._

_On the last day,_

_When we called it off_

_It all changed._

_Slowing to a stop but it's okay,_

_Cause I'll show the world_

_Got the rest of my life; the rest of my life._

**Bentley's Lab, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. 6:05pm 1****st**** August 2013.**

The soft footsteps of Sly walk off the green paper and out of the room past the watching gang. No one says anything; they just watch the end, the end of all of their adventures together.

For now…

There will be more in store for them, considering that such a brazen declaration on the world's media will no doubt attract attention. Bentley does not need to focus on that, he knows that it works. Sly goes over to the Thievius Raccoonus to flick through it's pages. He now will get the opportunity to imprint his ways and adventures alongside Bentley's contributions and the ancestors he is indebted to for the entirety of his existence. The gang slowly filters out of the room to see Sly doing this. Sly turns to them from his position. Sly look sat this can and throws it to the gang. Bentley catches it with his extendible arms that place the cane across his wheelchair. Sly takes off his mask and places it gently on the Thievius Raccoonus. The black fabric draping off the pages of this tome of thieves. Sly walks off and goes into a room by himself. The gang looks at themselves and back at the door, trying to figure out what the other is thinking. A nasally voice cuts the air.

"He's… gone." Bentley says.

"Again." Murray says, almost going to tears.

"But we'll always be with him, right?" Penelope asks.

"In all my years of knowing him I still don't know what goes on inside his head." Bentley says with futility.

The door reopens with Sly now changed into his black shirt and kharki pants.

"Sly!" Murray shouts.

"What? Did you think I'd leave you guys again?" Sly asks rhetorically.

"No. Not at all." Bentley fakes.

"I thought we should go out tonight and celebrate this moment, go out on the town and have a great time." Sly explains. "I was just getting changed, that's all. I don't want people to recognise me."

"What'd ya say?" Sly asks.

The mood in the room elevates to complete happiness and a feel good atmosphere.

"Sure." Bentley says. "Penelope, where do you recommend?"

"I know this great place next to the canal, great food, great wine, the best that money can buy in this city." Penelope explains.

"That's settled then. Dinner's on me." Sly exclaims.

They all start to walk out to the van that is parked inside. The lift hoists them up to ground level.

"Hey Sly, can I borrow a spare 2 million? I'd like to re-unite myself with my car again." Joey asks.

"That won't be necessary." Sly says.

Murray drives the van out of the driveway and guess what car is parked outside the show shop.

"No way! You, my friend, are an absolute legend." Joey exclaims as he jumps out of the van to get inside. In his excitement, he forgets a vital piece of this machine.

"Keys?" Joey asks.

"Check your pockets." Sly replies. Sure enough, the keys rest in his left pant pocket. Joey is stunned on the inside but he plays it cool.

"You are good, very good." He mutters as he turns to unlock the car. The van drives off and Joey follows behind.

They enjoy the night at the restaurant, they talk, they joke, they laugh and they have a great time into the night. The bill is large but they can cover it. The night is dark but they continue on in the perfect conditions for thieving. There is an open-air concert on, they watch that into the night, listing to bass line booms and thumping drops into the night. Joey particularly enjoyed himself that night; he even snuck his way backstage to meet the DJ. It is now his mobile phone home screen picture.

The gang continued the night with a long walk along the canals, talking and chatting with each other like they were just mates catching up for the night. It is perhaps the best moment, seeing them all like this. No barriers, no grudges and no restrictions. They can be their natural selves for once, not needing to hide behind these personalities that they create to hide from each other.

The night wears on into the next day but it is not over for them. They return to the lab still talking and chatting to each other and go back inside to chat some more. Murray gets in the kitchen and whips up some snacks for them to eat while they just sit back and relax and enjoy each others company. Whether it is Sly with Carmelita, Bentley with Penelope, Murray with a pizza or Joey with… no one, they are enjoying the night.

It keeps going until one by one they go to sleep. The clock continues forward at it's unchanged rate as time has done for millennia. Sly is the last one left; he looks around the room to see if everyone is gone. They have. He goes up to his possessions and looks at the new addition in this area with all this family heirlooms. It is a small metal box with a combination lock. There is only one thing to do with it.

It's 4:20am, and Sly has a safe to crack.


	48. Bonus Chapter - Dream On

**This Chapter is Non Canon Information and should not be treated as part of the storyline.**

_A preconceived idea, born before the start. _

_This is the one that's closest to my heart._

_Trying to fit it in, I now know where. _

_Now the end is done, and chapters are bare. _

_- Olirulz111_

**Melbourne, Australia. 8:45pm 3****rd**** September 2013**

Sly is walking down the street just chilling; all of the passers by just looking at him swagger into the club, holding the VIP pass. He gets in with ease; all of the people in line are told they have to leave now that he is here. There are some strong words hurled at the bouncer but the complete indifference means that it just bounces right off. Sly sees everyone he ever knew inside. His ancestors, his enemies. Various guards from various different places. They are all here, looking at him. They make a path for him to walk closer to the stage so he can listen in. Right now, Bentley is on the decks, busting out some filler beat until this moment arrives. He gives a cue from off stage and progressively fades in the beat. From off stage, Penelope, wearing a dress that Sly would never imagined she would wear, comes onto the stage ready to take the microphone.

(_Song is Christian Falk Feat. Robyn – Dream On NB: I do not own the rights to this song.)_

Thugs and badmen  
Punks and lifers  
Knocked up interns  
Pigs and snitches

Rest your weary heads, all is well

You won't be strip-searched, torn up tonight  
You won't be cut up, bleeding tonight  
You won't be strung out, cold, shaking to your bones  
Wishing you were anywhere else but right here  
So dream on

Thieves and muggers  
Tricks and hustlers  
Cheats and traitors  
Scum and low-lives

Rest your weary heads, all is well

You won't be sad or broken tonight  
You won't be squealed on, ripped up tonight  
You won't be back-stabbed, double cross, face down  
Teeth knocked out, lying in a gutter somewhere  
So dream on

Freaks and junkies  
Fakes and phonies  
Drunks and cowards  
Manic preachers

Rest your weary heads, all is well

You won't be pushed or messed with tonight  
You won't be lied to, ruffed up tonight  
You won't be insane, paranoid, obsessed  
Aimlessly wandering through the dark night  
So dream on

You won't be insane, paranoid, obsessed  
Aimlessly wandering through the dark night  
So dream on


	49. Author's Last Words

**Author's Last Words (4****th**** of September 2013)**

This is it. The end. I congratulate you for making it this far, even just for clicking on the link the first time. I congratulate myself for doing 47 consecutive uploads in 47 days, a feat which I had many doubts about at certain points. But most of all, in such a bittersweet moment, I congratulate Sanzaru games for ending Thieves in time on a cliff hangar. Without that ending, I would have never decided to write, nor publish fanfiction. It is a highly rewarding experience for me doing it for the first time and I hope it is the same for many times to come. It is all possible thanks to you guys. The amount of people who read this fanfiction was wildly above my expectations and I once again thank those who managed to read all 45 chapters plus the bonus chapters and those who just read the prologue. Thanks to all those who reviewed, followed and/or favourited this story. Thanks to all of the Sly Cooper community out there, they were a constant source of information about the Sly Cooper series and other fanfics. I thank for hosting this story and lastly, once again, thank everyone for reading this story.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Sincerely

- Olirulz111


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